Cherry Blossom of the Hidden Leaf
by xUnicornsRulex
Summary: A decision in the past changes Sakuras life.She dreams of being a ninja but needs to take care of her sick grandfather.Everything changes when Naruto shows her the life of a ninja. The Cherry Blossom is about to be unleashed, don't get on her bad side.
1. A Quiet Night

**A Quiet Night**

It started off as a quiet night in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The full moon shone brightly through dark night sky and the enchanted forest was silent, apart from the occasional shriek from the nocturnal beasts that could be heard on its night time hunt. Suddenly, a large puff of grey smoke appeared and a blood curling howl echoed through the Land of Fire and beyond. Every ninja was awake and dressed within seconds, leaping out of their windows to face the enemy who threatened their loved ones and homes. But after hours of pure courage and determination, nothing seemed to be able to beat the Nine Tail Fox Demon, as it slammed down one of its tails and destroyed another area of trees. The Hokage –Minato Namikaze, Yellow flash of Konohagakure- stood on the defensive walls of the village. He hated himself for standing there and not out fighting with his fellow comrades that were trying to hold the beast off, but from what he had seen he knew he couldn't just take the demon head on without a plan. Next to him stood his last student - Kakashi Hatake, recently known as the copy cat ninja because of the strange eye that he had, waiting for his instructions.

"Minato!" A beautiful voice called out to him, breaking his thoughts away from the battle that lay a few metres in front of their walls. He turned; surprised to see his heavily pregnant wife approaching him on the wall.

"What are you doing here?" He cried out, angrily and happily at the same time to see his beautiful angel by his side. She stopped when she heard the tone in his voice but quickly regained her composure.

"My home is under attack and you except me to do nothing about it!" She argued back, ready to fight for what she believed in. Even though she had a new last name the Uzamaki blood still flowed through her veins. She made a promise to fight for this land and everyone she loved no matter what, when an Uzamaki made a promise; they kept it. Besides, this was all her fault, she needed to fix it. Despite everything that was happening, Minato tried to suppress a proud smile at his wife for her courage (since she needed to be somewhere safe) but his wife still saw it in his eyes.

"Kushina," Minato groaned at his wife. "You should be resting, think of Naruto." He begged, as he named his unborn child. Kushina placed a protective hand over her bump at his words but still had her stubborn expression on her face.

"What do you think we've been trying to tell her for the past four hours?" An angry voice shouted, sending shivers down all shinobi's back (they all knew who the voice belonged to). Minato turned to see two Sannin's coming towards them. One of them –Lady Tsunade- looked very pissed, while his old sensei stood a few steps away from her, trying not to get caught in her 'going to kill anyone that comes near me' radar. To be honest, Minato couldn't blame him since he was one of the many people that had received a blow from Tsunade's power punches. Minato could only shake his head, as if he already didn't have enough to think about. "Kushina! For the love of Kami, what are you doing here?" Tsunade demanded. Anger burned in every cell in her body, making the ninja's around her take an extra step back. Even Minato, who was the most powerful ninja in the village didn't want to face the Queen of Slugs wrath. Jiraiya muttered something about pride and a pregnant woman being able to escape her watch, which instantly earned him an evil glare from his teammate. Nevertheless, Kushina stood her ground.

"I made a promise to protect this village no matter what." Kushina answered. Not flinching from her spot as the older woman tried to stare her down; with no success.

"In coming!" Someone yelled. Forcing the arguing to cease and look at the colossal tree that was flying towards them; the ninja's had gotten so distracted by the argument that no one had noticed until the last minute. Everyone jumped up but Minato was not fast enough, as he ran over to Kushina and lifted her. Damn it! Minato swore, as he saw the tree coming towards them. Given that he was holding his wife he couldn't make any hands seals without letting her fall, so he forced himself to turn around and hoped he would take most of the impact, instead of his wife. All of a sudden a pink blur flashed passed him and kicked the tree, shattering it into a million pieces. All of the ninja's landed gracefully on the ground, the weapons up and ready.

"I am at your service Lord Hokage." The pink haired woman spoke respectively, bowing before she brushed the splintered wood off her jonin uniform. Minato was trying hard to remember who this person was. He was sure had seen this woman before, especially a lot lately. Thinking back, he remembered seeing flashes of pink hair when he had taken his wife to the hospital for checkups; maybe a few times in the meeting room once or twice when he had given out assignments. He couldn't believe that he couldn't remember her name (it would have been tough to forget someone with pink hair) all he could of was one word; Haruno. The name reminded him of something important but because of all the stress with his wife and the Nine Tail Fox he was finding it hard to concentrate.

"Will you please escort my wife back to the hospital?" He asked politely, before he knew it a hand slapped him around the head.

"What point of I'm a ninja don't you get?" She yelled at her husband. Minato rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. He couldn't believe this was happening; men and woman were dying only a few metres away from him and he was standing here having an argument with his wife. Kami! That woman can hit really hard, the Hokage thought silently to himself since he didn't dare say it out loud. Kushina could be just as bad as Tsunade if you pushed the right buttons.

"That is good and all but how will you protect your child." The pink haired ninja questioned the young mother firmly, making everyone turn to look at her. What she said made Kushina nearly change her mind but she told herself she was a ninja and an Uzamaki.

"I'm a woman, I can multi-task." The red head replied strongly, with her head held high. The reaction that she got back from the female shinobi surprised her; she was smiling.

"Lady Kushina," the pink haired woman spoke placing a gentle hand on the mothers arm. "Trust me when I say I know what you're going through but you are a mother first and a ninja second now, you must ..." The woman suddenly froze half way through her sentence with wide eyes. Despite the commotion that was happening outside the walls; it seemed like a moment of silence had descended upon this small area of the wall.

"Uh oh." The woman muttered silently but was still heard clearly by the other shinobi around her.

"What is it?" The toad sage asked the woman, being the first to recover. The pink shinobi thought to herself for a moment before answering.

"You're about to give birth in five seconds." She responded. Kushina and Tsunade were about to argue back at this strange decision but five seconds had already gone past. Liquid spilled onto the floor, announcing that Kushinas waters had just broken. Everyone froze in shock, until Kushina screamed in pain and collapsed onto the floor. In seconds everyone surrounded her, trying to help her but not sure how.

"Everyone stand back!" Tsunade ordered, which mostly everyone did except: Minato and the pink haired woman. "Ok Kushina, I want you to breathe in and out slowly, in and out." The medic said gently, freaking a lot of people out in the process since this was not the woman they were use to seeing. Kushina was doing her best to stay calm but a million emotions wrecked havoc through her body, until a cool hand was placed on her forehead. She turned to see the pink haired woman calmly looking back at her. Tsunade began to order men to grabbed clean towels and hot water.

"What? Tsunade, surely you not thinking give birth to my child here?" Minato inquired, after he took in Tsunade strange requests. The old woman turned to him with a stubborn look.

"There's no time to get her back to the hospital." Tsunade yelled back, turning her attention back on the pregnant woman that was about to give birth, telling her to continue to breathe easily. Now Minato was torn more than ever between the battle and his wife. Two men came up to them with towels and hot water (they had probably nicked them from houses nearby) they quickly placed the items near Tsunade and left not wanting to be near her when the whole drama happened. "Okay Kushina on the count of three I want to push, one, two, thr ..."

"Aaarrrgggghhhh!" Kushina screamed as she pushed. The man near her decided they were never going to have kids, especially the really close ones that could see her tearing their Hokage's arm off when she squeezed.

"Okay that's it just a few more and ..." Tsunade paused when she saw the red liquid on her hands. No, not again, she thought, as she could do nothing but just stare at it. She had a fear of blood ever since she couldn't save her boyfriend but she thought she could help give birth to her friend's baby when they asked but looking at the blood now, she froze. Minato had notice her stop and was now trying to bring her back around to reality but nothing he said seemed to have any effect. Everything seemed to blackout, until something hard whacked her face.

"Lady Tsunade snapped out of it!" The pink hair woman cried out. Minato looked at her like she was crazy (which she probably was because you had to be mad to smack Tsunade around the face) and the woman looked back at him thinking along the same line of thought. Tsunade seemed to be able to regain control of the situation and sent death glares towards the woman that slapped her. The woman only held her hands out in surrender.

"Well it worked didn't it." She shrugged innocently, increasing the intensity of the glare. Kushina scream brought everyone back to the situation at hand.

"Ok Kushina, I need one more big push." Tsunade encouraged, supporting the head of the baby that was already out of the body. Despite nearly crushing his hand Minato was behind her one hundred percent of the time. All of a sudden, a baby scream sent a shockwave through the air. Everyone looked at the tiny little baby laying in Tsunade's hands. She quickly cleaned the baby off before wrapping it in a towel and passed the baby to Kushina.

"He's so beautiful." Kushina whispered, stroking the soft spikes on top of the little boys head. Minato nodded as he stared at the little boy that he and his wife had both made together. The beautiful moment was ruined when the furious howl of the nine tail fox shattered the calm atmosphere. The Hokage's head snapped back to the scene that lay in front of him. Damn! He thought, he had been so caught up with his crazy wife and the birth of his new son that he had somehow forgotten about the beast in the distance. Standing up, he eyed the monster as a million plans started to run through his head but nothing seemed to work. His old sensei seemed to be reading his mind and spoke the one thing he hoped he never wanted to say.

"Minato, do you remember what I told you about jinchuriki's?" He questioned, Minato turned to face him with a mixer of rage and hopelessness.

"Are you serious?" His young student shouted with outrage. Jiraiya had been excepting this reaction but he knew that it was the only thing that could save the village. He also noticed the young pink haired would with utter rage on her face. She must know what we're talking about, Jiraiya wondered. Meanwhile Tsunade was just looking at them in total confusion.

"Do you think we have any other choice?" Jiraiya suggested to his most prized student. An inner battle developed inside his soul, as his eyes twitched back between Jiraiya and his new born child. Student and Teacher had know each other long enough what each other was thinking and Minato knew what his sensei was thinking and why he brought the subject up now. Finally coming to a decision Minato forced away the tears that were threatening to escape before he crouched down next to his wife, who had been too caught up at looking at her son to take notice of the situation that was going on around her.

"Kushina… Kushina honey?" Minato whispered, making his wife look up at him for the first time. The smile quickly disappeared when she saw the terrible look in his eyes. "Kushina I need you to promise me that you'll always love our son no matter what." He asked sincerely. His wife looked at him with a perplexed look in her dark violet eyes but she nodded, not sure what else to do. Carefully, Minato lifted the child from the woman arms hugged him tightly before jumping towards the battle field. Finally registering what was happening she jumped up and tried to go after him but was instantly pulled back by Tsunade.

"Tsunade! What's he doing? Why is he taking our child towards that thing?" She screeched, trying to tear herself away from her friend. Tsunade could only shake her head because she honestly didn't know but whatever it was would hopefully save the village. "Minato please! Give back my baby!" She shrieked after her husband, tears poured from her eyes. "I'll get him." The pink woman yelled, suddenly leaping off the wall in search of her leader. A second later Jiraiya also leaped over the wall to follow her.

Minato cursed himself again and again for what he was about to do but he knew he had to, so he could save everyone he loved and his village. He stared down at the tiny bundle in his arms and couldn't believe how tiny his son was. Shoving the doubts from his mind he pushed more charka into his feet to make himself move faster. The cold breeze whipped his skin as the icy cold air sliced his fresh, like scissors cutting paper. His thoughts were so focused on the demon ahead that he had not notice the presence behind him until it slammed into his back. He just managed to stop himself from falling off the tree and dropping his son, grabbing the branch with his free hand he swung himself around and stood on top of the branch. Quickly checking on his son, the Hokage looked up to see the pink haired kunoichi had followed him with a determined look in her eyes. Despite the situation he had to admit that he was impressed that she had caught up to him, he wasn't the yellow flash for nothing.

"Hokage please, don't do this!" She pleaded, leaping a few branches closer so they were now only a jump away from each other. Minato stayed in his defensive position, even though it was one of his own standing in front of him, she had just nearly knocked him and his new born son out of the air.

"Do you really think I want to do this?" He shouted back at her, starting to feel angry but kept his emotions in check. Minato knew he was going to ask the unforgiveable from his son but he had faith in the child and the people of Konoha; besides he had had a dream a few months back about his son controlling the power of the Kyuubi and he had began working on the project for some time but it had only been a project back then; now it was Konohagakure's only chance for survival. Maybe Kami sent him the dream but now he had no chance to think about it. He had to stop the Kyuubi. Before the woman had a chance to argue, Jiraiya had sunk up behind her and used his Wild Lion's Mane Technique to trap her. She struggled hard but she couldn't free herself from Jiraiya's chakra enhanced hair. He gave his young student a quick nod and Minato took this opportunity to use his Flying Thunder God Technique. Knowing his student would be far away by now, he slowly loosened his hold over the young woman.

"There, now we ..." Jiraiya had to stop what he was saying when he felt a fist collide with his cheek and sent him flying, smacking into a tree in the process. She almost hits as hard as Tsunade, Jiraiya mused, as he forced himself out of the dent his body had made in the tree. Looking around he saw that the female ninja had disappeared again. Now where did she go, he thought, as he did and extra check of his surroundings. His thoughts were interrupted when a loud cloud of smoke appeared and Gamabunta rose out above. Narrowing his eyes a little more he could see the tiny figure of the fourth Hokage standing on top of him. I'll miss you kid, Jiraiya thought, cursing himself for not being the one up there. Suddenly, he spotted another figure appear behind his student. Oh no, he cried out, as he pulled himself together and raced towards the scene that was unfolding before him.

Minato did not move an inch when the Nine Tailed Fox met eyes and began hissing at him. The demon fox knew exactly why he was there. If Minato was going to have any chance with this, he was going to have to act fast. An odd noise to come from a fox, Minato thought, as he placed his baby son on top of the giant toads head. Forgive me! He begged silently to his son, as he made the first hand seal. But before he could continue any further, something pinched the back of his neck. Not being able to control his body functions any longer, the fourth Hokage could not stop himself falling to the floor. The only body part he could move now was his head. Turning it slightly, he saw that the person that had paralysed him was the pink hair ninja who had tried to stop him before. Tears ran down her face as she gently stroked his little son's hair.

"Why?" Was the only thing he could say to the woman kneeling beside him. She looked at him for a second with a sad expression on her face before explaining.

"If your son is going to have this demon sealed into his body... " She choked, staring down at the child with nothing but love in her eyes. "Then he's going need all the love he can get from the hatred that will haunt him for the rest of his life." Gently, she placed the baby down with great care. Before she preformed the seal, she looked up, her eyes met the Kyuubi's. No fear was scene in the young woman's movements or expression as she dared to stare down at the famed beast. Slowly, her hands came together as she began to make hand signs. The movement between her hands became faster and faster until they were nothing but a blur, she then slammed her hands down on to the baby's belly. Bright light explored over the area, blinding every ninja that stood in the area. The last thing that the surround people and the nation heard was the demons howl, shaking the ground and causing the surrounding nations to feel the terrifying rage of the fox scream. Then silence. The shinobi around the area removed their hands away from their eyes to see that the demon had disappeared. They should have been feeling happiness but fear and sorrow still cloaked their hearts. There was still much work to do.


	2. Aftermath

**Aftermath**

It was painful to open her eyes at first but somehow she managed to force them open against the blinding white light that was trying to keep her eyes shut. When her eyes adjusted to the scenery she noticed that the white was in fact a light hanging from the ceiling. The woman tried to turn her head but it was too painful. From what she could see in the corner of her eyes she looked like she was in a hospital room. What happen? Kushina thought to herself as she tried to pull her thoughts together but with no success, her brain was just to numb. I wonder how Naruto doing, she thought, placing her hand on what she thought would be a round belly; instead she found it quite flat. Rocketing up her hands placed up and down her stomach, trying to find evidence of the life she had been carrying.

"WHERE'S MY BABY!" She screamed at the top of her voice, ripping the wires from her arms and chest and pushed herself up to go and search. However, she was still too weak and as soon as she put all her weight on her legs she instantly crumble to the ground. She continued to wail and scream until Tsunade came running into the room. Using all of the immune strength in her she picked up the struggling woman and placed her back on the bed. "Tsunade, where's my baby?" The red hair woman demanded, seizing Tsunade by the shirt and gripped on to it with all her strength. The old medic was shocked at first and didn't know how to respond, until her the woman shook her a little for not answering.

"Calm down Kushina he's fine." Tsunade managed to finally comment, helping the insane woman to calm down a little bit. To be honest how could Tsunade blame her, everything tonight had completely blown up in their faces'. "Would you like to go and see him?" The old Sannin whispered gently. Kushina immediately nodded her head and began to stand up again but was pushed down again by Lady Tsunade. The old woman beckoned her to wait while she went in search of a wheelchair, since there was no way she would be able to take a step. The old woman was also able to grab some food for her friend to eat as she pushed her down the corridors, so she could gain some strength. Once they had entered the new arrivals centre, Kushina couldn't help but miss the group of ANBU guarding the hallway. The room they were about to enter had two guards stationed outside the room. I know my son is Minato's child and everything but isn't this going a little over the top, Kushina thought as she was wheeled past the two men. As soon as she entre the room, tears of happiness sprang from her dark violet eyes when she saw the man she loved in the room being held up right by his sensei and young Kakashi standing on the other of the cot which lay in the middle of the room. They were all looking down at the little baby that lay sleeping in it. However, Tsunade had a slight frown on her face. "You," Tsunade stated, pointing an accusing finger at the Fourth Hokage "You're supposed to be resting, you body's nervous system is not fixed yet." Hearing the anger in her voice the Hokage looked at the woman and was about to argue you back until he saw his beautiful beloved sitting in a wheel chair next to her.

"Hey." He smiled weakly and was happy to see her smile back. Looking back up at Tsunade, Kushina nodded her head in her husband's direction. Tsunade started to mutter stuff like why the hell she had to be the taxi driver? Pushing her friend over to the man she viewed as her own son. Kushina grabbed her husband's hand tightly in hers. The sight in front of her was so breath taking, a little baby boy with golden locks and chubby cheeks, sleeping peacefully. The new mother couldn't help but lean forward and stroke the baby's cheek. But something on his cheeks caught her eye, it looked like he had three whiskers on his cheek, almost like a... She wrenched her hand away, shocked by the thought that had just passed over her head. Looking up and caught the look in her husband's eye: Sadness, despair and guilt. Taking her husband's hand in hers she squeezed it tightly. She knew it was the only way to save the village but she didn't understand how he was still standing, he should have perished. At the moment she didn't really care, right now she just wanted her family.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tsunade's poisonous voice hit Jiraiya in the gut, making the Toad Sage jump away from the door. Rubbing the back of his head nervously, he tried to act normally (years of ninja training and a grown habit when he had been caught peeping by Tsunade).

"Tsunade what brings you here?" Jiraiya smiled, trying to inch further and further away from where he had just been caught trying to pick lock into a woman's house. However, the Queen of Slugs wasn't letting her old teammate off that easily and blocked his escape.

"Since you asked, one of the doctors came to me and said you were asking for a doctor, last name Haruno, care to explain why you're breaking into some ones house." Tsunade questioned him sweetly (even though Jiraiya knew better) he knew better then to try and slip past Tsunade without answering.

"Ok, so I'm a bit curious about the hot ninja who appeared out of nowhere, help give birth to my godson, slap you in the face and saved the village from total disaster." Jiraiya shrugged like it was the most natural thing in the world; even though it kind of was for him. Waiting for a punch to suddenly hit him in the face, Jiraiya was shocked to see Tsunade make no move to beat him in to tiny pieces. The truth was that Tsunade was also interested in the female ninja who had the guts to slap her around the face. Gesturing to the door, Jiraiya took this as a sign that he was allowed to open the door and proceeded to pick lock the door open. After a few moments the key lock clicked and the door swung in. Both team mates stared at one enough before signalling to each other to enter the apartment. Nothing special caught their attention, the apartment seemed normal and clean, with the usual chairs, book shelves and a table. The rooms they first explored where ordinary as well, a simple kitchen, a tidy bedroom with an attached bathroom but what really caught Jiraiya was the study room he entered and made a low wolf whistle to the admire the place. Kushina would be jealous of this, the Toad Sage thought, as he admired the different katana blades and other shape blade hanging from the walls. Hearing her team mate find something, she checked the room she had last seen him go into and saw him checking through some scrolls. "This is impressive, even to my standards." The Queen of Slugs heard him muttered, as he continued to examine the scroll. Peeping over his shoulder, her eyes widen in shock. Even though she was not an expert seal master, she knew a thing or two from Jiraiya and this seal was defiantly something to be stunned by. As Jiraiya continued to look through the scrolls of the office, Tsunade took her time to examine the office. She took her time inspecting the instruments along the walls and had to admit she was stupefied by the collection of weapons. Kushina would love this, Tsunade thought, the same thought that Jiraiya earlier when he first saw them. What Jiraiya hadn't notice was the family picture on the wall right beside the door. It was a wedding picture and the pink haired kunoichi was wearing a beautiful white kimono, her hair all done up and decorated with white flowers. Next to her stood a handsome looking man with chocolate brown hair and kind green eyes. Lucky woman, Tsunade thought sadly, wondering where this man was at the moment. "Cute." Jiraiya commented behind her, making her nearly jump out of her skin. She shot him a quick glare but turned her attention back to the photo frame.

"Yeah cute." Tsunade smiled, who was this amazing woman and how come we've never heard of her? The old medic thought, certainly someone with these weapons and incredible seals must have been a well know shinobi to come up with this. This is just getting more complicated? Tsunade thought as she walked around the room again. Massaging her temples she looked up to the clock to see it was nearly three o'clock; I have to get back to the hospital, Tsunade thought, suddenly more alert. Grabbing Jirayia by the collar of the shirt and dragged him out of the room.

"Hey, I'm not half way through yet." He whined like a five year old child being taken away from his favourite toy (in Jiraiya's case he felt like he was) his team mate only rolled her eyes in annoyance at her team mates complicates. Like I'm going to leave you here by yourself, Tsunade thought, as she made it to the front door and twisted the door knob open, just as she was about to take a step out of the door, the sound of crying came from the other room. Both of them froze. Is that... the two members of the 'Legendary Three Ninja' notion in cooperation, looking at each other before the followed the sound. The two Sannin followed the sound to a door they had not had the chance to look in yet. Tsunade was the first to reach the door and gently twisted the door knob open; her eyes widen at what she saw. The room was decorated in bright colours (mostly pink and yellow) and held different baby furniture; including a crib. Slowly, the old medic made her way over to the crib and peeped over the side. Dear Kami! Tsunade as she saw a new born baby with fluffy pink hair in it.

The Hokage sat by his wife's bed and stared at the baby that she carried in her arms. He's so beautiful, the new father thought, as a smile spread across his face. So far he only had to leave once or twice for short periods of time to sort out some things but so far he had not been disturbed. Kakashi was also sitting next and watched his son being rocked in his father's arms but instead of the loving expression that adored Minato face, the young, silver haired ninja had a face of wonder, like the baby was some unknown creature that had appeared out of nowhere. At that moment Kushina looked up at Minato and inclined her head towards Kakashi; who was too busy staring at Naruto to notice the looks that were being shot across the hospital room.

"Kakashi," Minato began, for the first time that night willingly looked away from the new light in his life. His student looked away from the tiny human that laid in the red females arms and dutifully turned to his sensei. "How would you feel if I, Kushina and Naruto adopted you into our family?" After the question was said, utter silence echoed around the room. At first, Minato and Kushina were worried that they had sent Kakashi into shock, since the boy made no movement what so ever for what seemed like a decade. Suddenly, the orphaned prodigy jumped up and wrapped his arms around his leader.

"Thank you sensei!" Kakashi cried out in complete joy. The two adults were amazed by this because it was rare to see Kakashi with any emotion, especially as open as this. After a few moments the teenager stepped back, quickly wiping away the tears of happiness in his one lone eye. For a few moments, the room was filled with peace, tranquillity and happiness, what had happen a few hours ago did not exist for those few special moments. Sadly, the perfect moment was brought to an end when the door open and a black ops office walked in.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Hokage but the council wishes to see you right away." The man behind the mask informed them. The Yellow Flash held back a sigh of annoyance but he knew he had his job to do, he nodded to the young shinobi and began to rise out of his and sent an apologetic look to his wife who only smiled back at him, showing she understood; he was the Hokage after all. But what the ANBU said next sent cold shockwaves don't his spine. "They wish for you to bring the child as well sir." Minato froze as did everyone else in the room; no one knew what to do or what to say. What do they want with my son? Minato worried to himself, making sure it stayed away from his face. The deafening silence was interrupted when Kushina pushed herself off the bed and into the wheelchair with Naruto still in her arms. The Hokage didn't even bother arguing with his wife, he knew if they were going too decided on something about her son then she wanted to know about it. Obediently, Minato pushed the wheelchair out of the door and was soon followed by Kakashi. If it turns out for the worst I need to have Jiraiya and Tsunade by my side, Minato thought, stopping by the ANBU and ordered him for the two to come to the meeting room as fast as they could. However, it wasn't until they nearly made it to the hospital doors that the two people he was hoping to see burst through the front door in great urgency.

"I need an insulator and breathing mask stat!" The old medic screamed, running past everyone in a flash with nurses and other doctors following her. Knowing he could do nothing more, Jiraiya slowed down his pace, so he stopped right in front of the whole Namikaze family.

"How's my favourite godson?" Jiraiya cried out cheerfully, only to be shushed by nearby nurses. They didn't say anything when Tsunade came in here shouting her head off, The Great Toad Sage thought to himself miserably, as a sweat dropped slipped down the side of his head. Minato tried his best to hold his laugh in but there was just times when his old sensei acted so much like a child sometimes. His smiley face turned into a serious one when present matters returned to him. Jiraiya quickly took up the message hidden in his expression. "I was afraid this might happen." The old sage muttered to himself. Hearing this, Minato was shocked to only hear this from his sensei now but kept silent never the less; they had something more important to deal with more. Whatever Tsunade must be doing it was important so he would just have to deal with Jiraiya support; for now. Pressing forward, the family exited through the front doors with determined looks on their faces.

Come on breath, Tsunade demanded desperately inside her head again as she used the oxygen mask to force more life into the tiny body that had stopped breathing just ten minutes ago. The baby's desperate screams back in her crib had put the old woman's medical skills on high alert and realised the child was having trouble breathing. For the fifth time she breath oxygen into the baby's body, praying that she would make it. The other doctors around her tried to get her to stop since it was useless but something inside Tsunade told her to keep going. All of a sudden, a miracle happened; the heart monitor began to beep. Tears of pure joy swept down her cheeks as the fragile body laying on the hospital table below her began moving...

The lights to the dimly lit council room made the atmosphere seem more tense and scary then it should have been. The most powerful and respected hidden leaf families were sitting around the table now. The table consisted of the former Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the leaders from the clans, Uchiha, Hyuga, Aburama, Inuzuka, Yamanka, Nara and Akimichi, along with the two council advisers and Danzo, plus a council member to represent the civilian population of the village. The only chair that was empty was Tsunade chair for the Senju clan; he was hoping that the few supports that he had would be enough. Beside him sat Kushina, holding his child. To his right Jiraiya stood with no joking expression in his face and to the left of his wife stood Kakashi who was busy trying to entertain his new little brother. The two that surrounded the new born baby were the only happy people in the room. Nevertheless, that was soon cut short.

"What do you plan on doing with the child, Lord Hokage?" The leader of the Uchiha clan asked his voice monotone as usual.

"I do not understand what you mean?" Minato responded not bothering to use any formality in his words, since now was not the time to play around. The Uchiha face remind emotionless but deep down he was deeply insulted for not have any respect shown back.

"What I meant was that the child is a danger to the village with the enormous power he with holds." The Uchiha answered, Minato could feel his wife turning tense next to him at the comment that their son was dangerous.

"I have checked the seal myself, the seal that was placed on my son is much stronger than the one I would have placed on him, I can tell you that he is no threat to the safety of this village." At this statement, everyone looked at the Hokage with shocked expressions on their faces, apart from the Toad Sage, who already knew.

"What do you mean, stronger than the one you would of put on him?" The female council adviser asked what everyone else was thinking. Minato took a deep breath before he retold the story.

"Just as I was about to place the seal on my son a fellow leaf shinobi paralysed me from behind and gave up her life to perform the seal." Everyone in the council room went silent at this new piece of information. The woman with the pink hair, Kushina thought, finally remembering the woman who had helped give birth to her son and now save her husband and the village. A sour expression crossed Jiraiya face as he remembered back to the apartment but no one noticed.

"Still we should make preparations to make sure the child is train probably." Danzo added to the cold silence, something that Minato did not like the sound of.

"Well, I and Kushina plan on training our son ourselves until he is old enough to attend the Ninja Academy." The Hokage firmly told the council firmly but this only coursed outrage among some of the members of the council. He made no attempt to interrupt the noise since he knew it was no use, getting anything through it. Once the yelling had died down, Danzo spoke again.

"I propose the child should be taken under my wing and learn to train his emotions." After this was said, Minato quickly gripped his wife hand and held firmly, reminder her that shutting curse at these people would not help.

"Then I suggest we put it to a vote." The Professor said, knowing Naruto only had one chance to lead a normal life with his parents. Minato saw the logic in this decision but he was just as frighten as his wife, even though they were both good at hiding their fears.

"All those who are in favour of me and my wife training my son say I" Minato asked the dreading question. Nobody made a move at first until the old Hokage raised from his chair.

"I." Sarutobi smiled, like he knew something they didn't. He was right. His 'I' was instantly followed by more around the tables, including Hyuga, Aburama, Inuzuka, Yamanka, Nara and Akimichi. Finally one more 'I' was added when a force of nature entered the room.

"I!" Tsunade stormed in and sat in her seat, holding a tiny bundle that was even tinier then Naruto and had a breathing mask on. It was a strange site to see, especially with fluffy pink hair sticking out of it. The whole group that surrounded the Hokage stared at shock at the second person to have pink hair that night, Minato sent a small look at his adoptive aunt but she just mouthed him that she would tell him later, turning to a brighter subject, Minato was happy to have the major majority of the vote on his side.

"The vote's official!" Minato grinned, turning to his wife who had a foxy grin on her face also. Turning back to the council he said one last thing. "My son stays with us."


	3. Nearly Ten Years Later

**Nearly Ten Years Later**

"Watch were you're going Sakura!" The old butcher screamed out, just managing to regain his balance before he dropped all of his meat on to the ground. Sakura made a mental note to make him one of her famous cupcakes later as an apology later as she sped through the street, trying her best to dodge other predestines on the way to her destination. It's too crowded! She thought to herself as she just barely dodged a woman with her child and basket full of groceries. Finally coming to a quick decision she leapt out of the crowd of people and onto the side of the building. Some civilians that noticed this strange girl was shocked to see a nine year old girl running against the side of building without hanging onto anything. Some shinobi wondering the village to past the time while off missions were quite impress that someone that young had learn a technique like that at her age. However, Sakura paid no attention to the mixed stares she was receiving and focused on the task at hand. I've only got three minutes! Sakura thought as she checked her watch; she needed to go faster. Sending a bit more charka into her legs and feet, Sakura sprinted faster. The seconds counted down quicker as she approached her destination. Nearly there, she thought as she made a leap of faith across the other building. Landing gracefully onto her feet, she stood up and pounded on the door.

"I have an order for Mr Mori: egg rolls and boiled rice!" Sakura shouted through the door, she only had to wait a couple of seconds when a skinny man in his late thirties and messy hair answered the door.

"Oh man, I thought for sure I would beat you this time." The man pretended to moan but there was a hint of laughter in his voice. "Only thirty more seconds and I would have gotten it for free." He continued to smile as he took the bag of takeout food from her hand and swapped it with money. Sakura tried to hide the small laugh threatening to creep out as she placed her money safely into the pouch secured protectively above her waist.

"Better luck next time Mr Mori." She smiled, as she waved good bye and jumped off the side of the building. Since she was in no rush now, Sakura took her time making her way back to the restaurant, admiring the streets colourful glow of people and products being sold. Remembering what had happen earlier she dodged the butcher's street since she wasn't going down there until she was armed with an apology. Man, why did it have to be so hot? She complained, scratching the scarf on top of her head that covered her strange coloured hair; the last thing she wanted was to be noticed around this area. Soon enough, she finally made it back to the small restaurant that she worked at. Staying close to the shadows, she made her way past the tables full of customers and into the kitchen area. "I finished my last order Mr Tanaka!" Sakura cried out as she took off her workers jacket and bag and hung them on the wall. The man that turned towards her was a very tall man with a plump stomach and a huge grinned plaster on his face, dressed in a simple white chef uniform.

"Really? Already? Well in that case I think it deserves one of my famous specials of the day, what do you say kid?" The overweight chef replied, abandoning whatever dish he had been cooking and began preparing another dish.

"Don't bother Mr Tanaka; I need to get home to grandpa." Sakura smiled, as she took another jacket and rucksack from another hook. The thud of the knife embedding itself into the wall stopped Sakura from moving another inch as she carefully watched the slow shaking of the knife stop.

"Nonsense child." Mr Tanaka said as he walked over and yanked the cooking knife from the wall. "I won't let you go home and eat what the old man calls food, now sit." The old chef pointed to the table, the young girl followed the order half a second later; afraid that if she didn't the next knife would hit her. Sitting on one of the stalls that faced the counter, Sakura carefully watched the chef prepare her dinner. Secretly, Sakura was glad that Mr Tanaka had stopped her from leaving because not matter how much she loved her grandfather; he was a terrible cook. However, she was still worried about her grandfather and kept staring at the clock every minute to check on the time. Luckily, Tanaka knew she needed to get home and fixed her a quick dish (which Sakura was extremely grateful for) and handed it to her. Expressing her thanks, the skilled delivery girl tucked into her dinner and ate the whole plate of food.

Half an hour later, Sakura was nearly half way home when she slowed down her pace when she approached the park. The nine year old had a lot of memories in this place, some good but most were bad. Nevertheless, despite what had happened to her in the past, she could not deny the beautiful view the shone off the area. The kids' park that many of the Konohagakure children came to play but right now it was extremely quiet. The whole place was completely disserted; not a child in sight. The area was covered in yellow light from the evening sun, allowing the place to give off a peaceful glow. Slowing done her pace to a complete stop, she closed her eyes so she could admire this sudden steadiness that had entered her world. Suddenly, Sakura's quiet moment was ruined when a toddler jumped into the clearly and was running as fast as its little legs could take it. The small child was quickly followed by six other people, two of the people that were the fastest in the group caught up with the kid first and slammed hard against her. The child went flying and fell on to the ground hard with blood pouring from her mouth. Pure rage filled every part of Sakura body as she dived into the battle. Just at the two boys were about to hit the little girl again, Sakura appeared of nowhere in the air and kicked them both in the face, sending them backwards past their friends heads. Another tried to aim a punch at Sakura head but she avoided it easily as she ducked down and scissor kicked him around his ankles, knocking the person to the ground. The last three stood back a little; not wanting to end up the same as their other mates. Rising back up, Sakura stepped into a defensive position between the child and the boys. Seeing them better now, Sakura could tell these guys were in their early teens, making Sakura more angry then before.

"Care to explain why you are attacking a defenceless child?" Sakura hissed venomously, making the boys shiver from the intense fury that was directed at them. The eldest one with the pupil less eyes and plain brown hair was the first one to gather up the courage to speak, the pale eyes caught Sakura's attention instantly; making her realise what clan this boy was from.

"The child is a second born, therefore is a branch member. Earlier she did not show me – a main house member- the proper respect, so we decided to teach her." He answered cold and plainly like beating a child was a usual thing to do. Hearing the main class and the branch class (not to mention the strange eyes) Sakura knew this guy was from the Hyuga clan; a clan that Sakura deeply hated because of the way the all treated each other. Her anger only intensified at the thought that someone was beating up their own family just because there were second born.

"I suspect that you want me to step aside, let you continued your business." Sakura spoke, finding it hard to control the anger in her voice. The two other boys in the mob seemed to sense the intense fury that was aiming daggers into their leader's skin but the guy seemed not to notice.

"Yes, I am glad you under..." He never finished his sentence since Sakura spat in his face; unable to listen to anymore of the rubbish coming out of his mouth.

"I'll rot in hell first before I let you anywhere near her!" Sakura snapped back fiercely, keeping her eyes on the three lads in front of her. The Hyuga was having a hard time keeping the fury out of his facial expression as he wiped the glue out of his face.

"You'll pay for that." He snarled angrily, signalling to his boys to move in. Bracing herself, Sakura began making plans in her head. Before she had the element of surprise to take the three other guys out but now she had to face the full power of three fists hitting her at once. What annoyed her the most was the she can sense the girl behind her still. It was a strange ability but she seemed to be able to sense a person presence if they were in a two yard radar, recently she had been able to sense the changes in their body – for example, sensing some ones temperature change and heart range quicken. The fight would be so much easier if she didn't have to protect the girl as well. Slowly, the teenage boys came closer and closer towards her with wide smirks spread across their faces. Keeping her eyes on the boys in front of her she sent silent messages to the girl to get up and run but with no success. Her senses went on high alert as three other human signatures caught her attention from behind. She had no time to register if they were friend or foe when a yellow blur zoomed forward and punched the Hyuga member in the face, quickly followed by two other blurs that attacked at the other two. Who are these guys? Sakura wondered as she watched the three sudden people easily beat the crap out of the others. It didn't take long for Sakura to snap out of her shock when she felt the movement of the person she had punched in the face earlier get up and aimed right at the boy with bright yellow hair. Oh no you don't! Sakura thought ferociously as she chased him. Thanks to the extreme work outs her grandfather had put her through; Sakura was fast enough to get in front of the guy before he was able to throw a punch at the yellow haired stranger. Quickly, she knocked the persons hand away (to stop herself been hit in the face) throwing the person off balance. Using the person's instability to her advantage she grabbed his other arm and flipped him over her hip, slamming him into one of the other boys who was fighting with the girl. Staring back in the other direction, Sakura's emerald eyes met bright blue ones, as she stared into the face of rescuers for the first time. The boy was the same age as her, with chubby cheeks (marked with whiskers) wild bright blonde hair and black trousers with an orange t-shirt and a white swirl in the middle.

"Weren't going to leave me out of the action were you." Sakura smiled at her fighting companion. The blonde boy seemed confused by her comment at first before suddenly recovering and sent her a foxy grin. The groans of pain caught their attention and both of them looked to see the fox trouble makers running back as fast as they could to the trees that they had come from, only just remembering to grab the other two Sakura had knocked out earlier and drag them with them.

"Sister!" The four year old behind her cried out and ran towards the older girl and the other boy, whose facial features Sakura had just taken into account. They must be all related because they had the same pupiless eyes and soft features decorated with pale soft skin –which also made her notice they were other members of the Hyuga clan. The girl with the purple-blue hair picked up the girl and held her close as her little sister cried into the thick coat she was wearing, while the elder boy walked over to her and bowed.

"We thank you for your assistance in my cousin's rescue." The older boy mumbled out, not an ounce of emotion on his face.

"Thanks." Sakura replied, rubbing the back of her head as a sweat drop rolled down her face. She wasn't used to being thanked, especially in this fashion. Hearing some kind of muffled noise, Sakura turned to see the blonde boy trying to cover his mouth – obviously trying not to laugh at her reaction. "What you laughing at?" Sakura demanded as she hit him on the head. The boy instantly stepped away and was holding the top of his head; with a bump growing out of the top of it. "Oops, sorry, anger management problems." She confessed, absolutely regretting her actions now.

"It's alright." The boy smiled, looking back at her with a happy smile on his face; shocking Sakura in the process. Why isn't he angry with me? Sakura wondered secretly to herself, not daring to say it out loud. The special moment was ruined when Sakura watched started beeping and she looked at her watch.

"Oh no I'm late!" Sakura cried out and not waiting another second ran off in the direction of home before anyone could say another word.

Man I'm exhausted, Sakura dreamt to herself as she threw herself on her bed. Her body ached all over. She was five minutes late home last night. The punishment was a five hundred metre run that had to be done in five minutes – to the average person it didn't sound hard but what they didn't know was that the run was filled with dangerous obstacles. It took her five times before she was able to be beat the clock. Doing some yoga after wards had got the worst of the soreness out but there were still some tight patches in her muscles which made it slightly difficult to move around as freely as she liked. Thankfully, it didn't do anything to harm her running abilities and would be able to make all her delivers tomorrow. She was also thankful that Mr Tanaka had made her stay and eat something otherwise she would be starving now, since her grandfathers attempts to make 'soup' to eat did not go down so well. Her abilities to cook had been supervised by Mr Tanaka himself, so she was ok for future meals. Ripping the hot and itchy cloth off her head, her pink curls fell to the waist; laying down her hair surrounded her like an aura. She picked up a strand of pink hair and examined it. Why did I have to have weird coloured hair? She thought to herself, as she twirled it around in her fingers. A lot of kids picked on her for it when she was younger and it made her to noticeable so she kept it hidden under a hat or bandanna. Chucking her strand of hair to the side she switched the light off and fell straight to sleep.

The next day, Sakura was walking back from another delivery, hoping to get some lunch. She still had another delivery to make but she was in no rush for this one, since there was no time limit on it – she even had enough time to deliver the cupcakes she made that morning over to the butcher. She was carrying some bulk that one of the other restaurants had brought from Mr Tanaka. A sudden uneasiness settled upon Sakura when she walked down one of the streets. This was one of the busiest streets in the hidden leaf village and yet it was totally silent; almost. Instead of the roar of laughter the could be heard from a man eating his lunch or two old ladies gossiping to each other the street was filled with nothing but whispers. Everyone was tense and stiff and every few seconds would look around to see no one was looking before they began talking quietly their friend again. Sakura could not understand what was going on until the sound of someone's voice shouting in the distance. Curious, Sakura began following the sound further done the street, until she saw a woman in her thirties, with pale blonde hair pulled into ponytails and a green jacket the just about cover the biggest boobs Sakura had ever seen arguing with one of the restaurant owners (that Sakura hated) down this street. Next to her stood a very large man with a wide muscular build, with long white hair and red eye liner, he was standing a little further away; like he was afraid of the woman or something. But what shocked her the most was the boy standing next to them. It was the same blonde boy that she had met in the park the other day. Searching the crowds huddling away from the group of people, watching them closely, Sakura saw that they were all sending him death glares with such hatred that it made Sakura scared to take another step towards them; which was kind of scary because she wasn't afraid of anything. How could he just ignore them? Sakura studied, as the boy from the park continuously flipped a kunai in his hand. Why are they even staring at him like that in the first place? Sakura mind wondered. She couldn't understand what was up with these people, they kid seemed like a nice guy when she met him yesterday. Gathering up some courage, Sakura walked towards the group, noticing that she was gaining quite a few weird looks as well. No one from the group had noticed Sakura standing next to the yellow boy -not even the boy himself; and she was standing right beside him. She waited a minute or so to see if she would be noticed before taking matters into her own hands.

"Is she always this scary?" Sakura enquired. The blonde was so startled by Sakura's sudden presence that the kunai went flying in her direction. Thanks to her training, instead of piercing the flesh in her shoulder, she was able to catch it by the handle. "Careful, these aren't toys." She tried to joke as she handed the metal weapon back to the boy. The boy stood frozen for a moment with his mouth wide open. Then all of a sudden...

"It's you!" The loud mouth cried out, jumping back a little bit as he pointed an accusing finger at her. Sakura just looked at him plainly, while a huge sweat drop rolled down the side of her head.

"Glad to see you remember." She said her expression unchanged. Slowly the shock began to wear off the boys face and started turning into a confused expression. Deciding to break the ice she held out her hand towards him. "Sorry for running off the other day, I'm Sakura Haruno." She greeted, waiting patiently for the boy to take her hand. After a long (long) time staring at her hand, a giant grin of pure happiness spread across his face as he grabbed her hand and shook it firmly –nearly ripping Sakura's arm off.

"I'm Naruto Namikaze!" He greeted cheerfully, still shaking her hand. He's enthusiastic I'll give him that, Sakura thought to herself, as their hands finally let go and Sakura forced the urge to rub her shoulder; since she thought it would look rude. She saw he was about to ask her something when someone grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away.

"Don't get close to him Sakura." Fifteen year old Keiko hissed at the boy she had just introduced herself to. Now Sakura was more confused than ever. Keiko and her didn't get along well but for some reason he had dragged her away from Naruto like he was a disease animal. It was only then that Sakura noticed the woman had stopped arguing at the hostess and was sending death glares at the boy pulling her back. She also didn't miss the threatening death glares for the old man standing beside the scary woman now. Remembering the boy, Sakura turned her eyes back to Naruto and what she saw almost shocked her; she saw intense pain in his eyes – making Sakura more confused than ever about what to think about this boy. Thinking to herself, it took her two seconds to decide what she was going to do. Locating the small think on one of the teenager's hands she yanked it up as hard as she could. Surprise and in pain, Keiko yelp out and stepped back and back examining his hand. Ignoring the protests behind her, Sakura made her way back over to Naruto; who was looking at her incomplete shock.

"If you're hungry we can get a bite at the place I work!" Sakura smiled. She didn't allow anyway word for argument as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him in the direction of Mr Tanaka restaurant with two of the adults following, stunned at the girls reactions.


	4. A Friend

Apart from the hostile glares and the unnecessary rude comments that some of the brave idiots in the street (who were instantly silenced from a cold glare Naruto's two guardians shot at them) Sakura thought that lunch went especially well. Mr Tanaka did not haste to serve up on of his special lunch surprises to everyone. What surprised the skilled delivery girl was Mr Tanaka giving her the afternoon off? She was about to decline -since she kind of needed the money- but then the old man invited her to the park, since it was such a nice day and Naruto was thrilled at the idea and almost got down on his knees and begged her to come, so she agreed; how could anyone say no to that smile of his? So they group proceeded to the park, Sakura was glad she had agreed to come given that she would of hated it if she got to miss the warm weather and the cold breeze that seemed to balance out the atmosphere, making it a perfect day to be outside and relax. Besides, she had never really gone to the park with a friend before, so it was nice to have accompany that wasn't old and thought her childish imagination was silly. Again, it was very quiet when they reached the park, there were only a few children at the park but as soon as they approached the playground the parents dragged their kids away. Despite making the two children more recluse then before, they decided that at least they had each other they would be fine–not to mention nearly the whole park to themselves. The adults were happy to sit on the bench and keep and careful eye on the children as Naruto and Sakura went to go and play on the swings.

"Your grandma's kind of scary." Sakura commented, as she impotently stood on top of the swing chair and leant back and forth, making small swing moments. She also found it quite weird that a thirty year old woman was his grandmother but who was she to judge. The hyperactive blonde just laughed at her statement and began swinging wildly on his swing.

"Yeah, Grandma Tsunade is kind of scary –especially when's she's mad at grandpa Jiraiya but all grandma's are like that don't you think?" Naruto grinned back at his new friend. The young girl took in what the boy said and processed the information through her head as she tried to find a suitable answer to his question. She hated moments like this when people asked her questions about her family life.

"Honestly, I wouldn't know, I can't remember what she was like." Sakura replied truthfully, as she continued to swing, though she seemed to put less effort into it and now seemed less enthusiastic; it was obvious sigh that the subject was a touchy one. Naruto slowed down to a complete stop and looked up at the girl.

"Why? Don't your parents talk about her?" Naruto continued to ask, not seeing Sakura shift uncomfortably where she stood. Slowly, holding onto the chains that supported the playing instrument, slid down on to the seat. Looking back up to meet Naruto's face, she levelled her green eyes with his baby blue ones.

"I never met my parents; they died when I was a baby." She answered sadly, trying to hold back the sad thoughts that had entered her mind and were threatening to make her cry any second. Watching his facial expressions carefully, Sakura could see Naruto's face turn a shade paler. The boy suddenly looked away but Sakura was able to read his expression fast enough to see sadness and shame in his eyes. Now Sakura had wished she kept her mouth shut. But in reality she didn't honestly think he would be effected by it that much. Placing a soft hand on his shoulder, Sakura waited for Naruto to notice her comforting presence and look up at her, so he could see her smiling. "It's ok Naruto, you didn't know, no need to feel up set." Sakura laughed to show she wasn't offended. This seemed to make Naruto feel a little bit better and soon, the children were back to their usual selves. Soon they got into a game of tag and it was clear to anyone that watched them play could see they received ninja training. Naruto was fast and he had an iron will plus great stamina that made Naruto a difficult opponent but Sakura was much faster (years of on time deliveries helped her with that) and had great agility, so she was able to switch and bend her body as she pleased. Tsunade and Jirayia were very impressed by the amount of skill this strange girl processed and also couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. The game lasted for so long that the sun was starting to go down yet the game still continued. Even though she was an expert runner, Sakura just couldn't keep up with Naruto's stamina and felt herself getting tired. At the moment Naruto was the tagger and Sakura was running like crazy to stay away from him. She had a plan in her head that could work but she didn't know Naruto abilities to make the plan full proof. Might as well give it a try? Sakura thought, as she back flipped over Naruto and run in the opposite direction.

"You'll never catch me Naruto." Sakura cheered, as she started racing towards a tree. Even though she was tired, the delivery girl had never in her life had so much fun.

"We'll see about that." Naruto laughed behind her and she could sense Naruto skidding to a halt and now chasing after her again. Here it goes, she thought as she felt the hyperactive blonde starting to catch up with her. Sending charka to her feet she jumped up on to the trunk and started running up the tee. As she was half way up it she finally noticed that Naruto had not ran up with her. Turning around so she was now looking down at him, she pulled the skin down under her eye and stuck out her tongue; resulting in a funny face. She almost burst out laughing at the sight of Naruto gob smacked face. "Dude! How did you do that?" Naruto shouted out excitedly, bouncing up and down with glee. Taking on foot of the tree she added a little extra charka so he could see the glow of blue energy around her feet.

"I just added a bit of charka to the sole of my feet." Sakura informed him. From then on she could do nothing but watch Naruto take in what she said, taking a few steps back, she saw him clasp his hands together to help him focus. When he suddenly began running towards the tree, Sakura thought he actually might do it when she saw the determined look in his eyes but as he jumped and landed one of his feet on the tree, the barks surface suddenly burst and Naruto collapsed onto the floor. Maybe I should have warned him about the amount of charka he should have used? Sakura wondered to herself as she remembered that small detail. Seeing that Naruto was taking his time getting up, she jumped down beside him. "Are you ok?" She questioned, noticing his eyes had gone a bit funny, as she sat up.

"Man that hurt!" He suddenly cried out, rubbing the back of his head, taking a quick look, Sakura couldn't help but notice there was a small bump growing out of his head.

"It should have! What were you thinking trying something like that!" The angry woman's voice demanded making both of the children jumped; since they had forgotten the adults were at the park with them. The blonde hair woman with pigtails stood over them with an annoyed vein popping from her fore head.

"But grandma..." Naruto tried to explain but he was instantly cut off.

"No buts young man. You shouldn't be attempting such a difficult technique without adult supervision." His grandma ordered. It turns out his grandmothers word was the law, since Naruto dropped his head in shame and muttered he was sorry. Poor Sakura wanted so badly to laugh at this but feared the old woman would hurt her. "And you young lady." The woman suddenly barked, turning towards Sakura, who was still kneeling next to Naruto. "I don't know where you learnt that technique but it's a serious skill used by shinobi, not some play toy." Sakura followed Naruto example and also hung her head in shame as she mumble her apologises.

"Leave the kids alone Tsunade they were just having some fun." Naruto's grandfather stepped in as he tried to stand up for the kids. But his advances were cut shot when she gave him a threatening glare and cracked her knuckles. However, before anymore words could be said a puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere, since Naruto and Sakura where closet to the cloud of smoke, the grey cloud got stuck in their lungs and they started choking and coughing. Once the cloud had cleared and their eyes had stopped watering the children were able to catch the glimpse of a small orange toad.

"Gamakichi!" Naruto cheered out, picking up the little frog and hugging him closely.

"Watch it kid, I'm on business." The orange frog resorted back as it tried to struggle from Naruto tight grip. Sakura could only watch in fascination as the animal talking. After Naruto stopped squeezing the frog to death, the frog leapt from the boy arms and started dusting itself off. It didn't take long for him to notice the girls dropped mouth and wide eyes. "What you looking up short stuff?" At this statement, Sakura instantly shut her mouth and tried to remain calm.

"Well, obviously I'm looking at you." Sakura answered the small toad with attitude. They stared at each other. Frog and human examining the other; as if they were trying to make sense of who they were.

"Huh, I like you princess, you've got spunk." The tiny amphibian smiled back and raise one small hand that looked like it was resembling a thumbs up- honestly, Sakura wasn't sure. The child smiled back at the little guy and started rummaging through her pockets.

"You want some candy?" Sakura asked, grabbing some sweets out of her pocket and handed them towards the small creature. She usually had a ton on her since some of the people who couldn't tip probably gave her sweets instead. The little animal jumped up on to her hand and examine the contents carefully, using his long tongue to lick the surface the frog took a few moments to take in flavour before popping the whole thing in to its mouth.

"This is really good." The toad stated as it picked up another one and poked it into its mouth.

"Gamakichi, you said you had a message." Jiraiya interrupted, as the orange toad finished off another piece of candy.

"Hm? Oh yeah." The animal suddenly remembered the reason he was here for. "The Hokage wants to talk to you in private, something about your old partner." An icy tension spread through the air at the last part. Sakura sent Naruto a confused look but he only answer her question but giving her a puzzled shrug back.

"Come on Naruto, time to go home now."Tsunade barked, suddenly scared and tense. It was clear that Sakura and Naruto did not want to go home since they were having so much fun, making Tsunade a little more annoyed but also sad that she had to break up her grandsons fun with his new friend.

"It's ok Tsunade, you take Sakura home, and I'll see what's going on." Jiraiya suggested Tsunade looked like she was going to put up a fight but her team mate did have a reason to his point; they couldn't just leave their god sons' new friend to walk home alone. The old medic could only sigh in defeat.

"Fine, I'll meet you back at the mansion." Tsunade groaned. Her team mate only nodded and then suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke along with Gamakichi. The whole area was silent, until the Sanin broke the silence. "Ok kid where do you live?" The old woman asked. Shaking her head to get rid of the fuzzy smog of confusion in her brain, Sakura pointed towards a little path that led off the main road.

"It's about a ten minute walk down there." Sakura indicated in that direction. The young girl was surprised when the woman took hold of Naruto's hand and then Sakura's, leading the children into the direction Sakura had just pointed to. It may have sounded weird but Sakura kind of liked the feeling. In her mind, she silently pretended that the woman was her grandmother and that Naruto was her brother and that they were going home to freshly baked cookies. For some reason it brought some kind of inner peace inside Sakura because for once in her life, she felt like her life was ...nice! The young girl couldn't help but like the feeling of being normal. Sadly, the day dream ended soon enough, when the site of a clean, run-down cottage came into view. It was now Sakura's turn to lead, as she directed her guests to the front door. "Grandpa! I'm home!" She called out, as she open the door and stepped in. The place was tidy and orderly but it was clear to both Tsunade and Naruto that the family was completely poor. A man around seventy years old came huddling towards the door, with his cane scraping against the floor. Judging the deep frown lines on his face, it was clear that the man had seen harsh times.

"What time do you call this young lady?" The old man demanded, clearly in a bad mood. You could tell he was a former shinobi since his face made no hint of expression but his voice had a threatening tone to it. Sakura instantly looked down to watch her shoes.

"I'm sorry I'm late grandpa, I was... playing." Sakura muttered quietly that the old man almost didn't hear it. For a second, it looked like the man had a confused expression on his face at the last part. A small cough from Tsunade, made the man look up and notice her and the boy standing in the door way. The man's eyebrows would have disappeared into his hair line, if he had any hair on top of his head, when he eyes recognised the woman in front of him.

"Well, well, Tsunade? It's been a long time. I have seen you since we fought against that one eye bat in the Land of Lightening." The old man alleged, waiting for the female Sanin to remember him. However, it didn't take her that long to realise who the old man was.

"Akio! Is that really you?" Tsunade gasped and stepped towards the old man with a mixture of happiness and pure confusion on her face. The elderly man just laughed and patted the woman softly on the shoulder. But the woman suddenly embraced him, as if her life depended on it. "I can't believe it's really you." She finally said, after she let the man go. She was rewarded with a smile on the man's face to.

"What? Surprised to still see me alive." Akio joked, making the beautiful medic laugh a little and gave him a playful punch on the arm.

"Grandma, you know this old man?" The hyperactive child rudely interrupted the special moment that the two old comrades were sharing. Sakura didn't really agree with Naruto method of finding out but it seemed to work since the two friends remembered where they were; but, Sakura couldn't help but want to know how these people knew each other. Just as it looked like Tsunade was about to explain, Sakura grandfather made his way over to Naruto, his piercing black eyes examined the boy from head to toe.

"Defiantly the spitting image of his father but I sense he has his mothers personality." The man smiled at the young boy, messy Naruto hairs even more.

"Perspective as always ... sensei." The woman mocked, giving him a mocking bow.

"You were her teacher granddad?" Sakura suddenly shrieked out in surprised. She never knew much about her grandpa's life only that he used to be a skilled ninja until he suffered a terrible injury one day. The old man just laughed and clapped his granddaughter on the shoulder.

"I was, at the academy that was." Her grandfather answered. Turning back to Tsunade he asked. "Why don't you join me for a quick tea before you go?" His offered was sadly turned down; even though the children began to be together for a bit longer.

"I'm sorry but I have business to attend to and I got to make sure Naruto gets back for dinner." Tsunade sighed miserably, sad that she couldn't hang out with her old friend for longer. The feeling was mature between the two friends who wanted to spend some time together. Despite the sad look on his face, the old teacher nodded in understanding.

"Well, don't be afraid to stop in every now and again to visit an old friend and make sure to bring Naruto with you to." The man added, lighting the atmosphere up a bit.


	5. Uchiha's in the Park

"Don't slow down. You only have a few seconds left to finish." Sakura's grandpa yelled as the child was coming to the end of another lap. Biting the inside of her cheek, the little girl forced herself to ignore the pain and made herself run faster the rest of the way; dodging and ducking kunai and senbon flying in her direction under the autumn grey sun. They were all blunt of cause but that didn't stop them from leaving bruises on her skin. Two stick figures leapt out from the sides and grabbing her own weapons aimed and threw the kunai at the targets- both metal weapons hitting the centre of the bulls eye dead on. The young ninja in training had not seen her new friend Naruto or any of his crazy grandparents for nearly a whole week and it was starting to get her down. She wanted so badly to go to the park and play but not without Naruto- that would just be too depressing. Sakura was so distracted by her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that other stick figure flying up from underneath the dried grass that had been hiding it slammed straight into Sakura's face. Ouch! The young trainee would have cried out if her mouth hadn't been struck together by the wooden doll she had ran into. What was worse that she knew it was there from all the amount of training she did and now she was going to hear an ear full from her grandpa. Of course she was right since as soon as she ran to finish the course her old man was standing there ready to give a lecture. "Sakura! What were you thinking letting your guard down like that? Why were you so distracted?" His corky old voice asked briskly, all the softness he would usually speak with was all gone; especially since he was in full teacher mode. Sakura just stared down at her feet in shame; she didn't want to say why she had not been paying attention because she knew her grandpa would think it was silly. All she could do was mutter her apologises. Despite being below freezing, hot sweat dripped down Sakura's face like she had been doing garden work in the middle of summer. To the young girl it was much worse than that since she didn't mind gardening during the summer. Even though her grandfather had a weak frame, the old man seemed to somehow have a taller build then her as he had his arms crossed over his chest and his firm chin turned his mouth into a stubborn frown. After a few moments of just looking at her, her grandfather sighed and patted her on the shoulder. "We will stop training for now but as punishment, we'll have our piano lessons early." At the mention of the words 'piano lessons' Sakura head shot up with fear on her face. Oh no! Not music lessons! Sakura moaned as her parental guardian guided her towards the cottage. All of the furniture in the house could not mount up to how well preserved then the solid oak piano that hid in the corner of the back room. Leaving one of the doors open to let some of the fresh air in to the dusty old house. Slowly, Sakura dragged her feet over the wooden floor to the piano. Like the good granddaughter she was, Sakura waited for her grandpa to pick out a complicated piece of music sheets and place them in front of her. For a few moments, Sakura took her time reviewing the notes in front of her before placing her fingers on the cold white keys and straightening her back to a formal position. With her grandpa taking a seat near her she began, playing slowly at first and then getting a bit faster. Why did grandpa have to pick a sappy love song? Sakura moaned inwardly as she continued to play. There was no doubting she had talent, she just hatred bad songs and despite how much she loved him, he had terrible taste in music. But like he said it was a punishment. Suppressing an annoyed compliant that was eager to escape her mouth; Sakura continued to play the endless torture pleasantly until there were no more notes. After a moment of silence, a thunderous applauses rose out of nowhere, making both Sakura and Akio both jump out from their seats. How could I not sense them? Sakura thought happily when her sense snapped back into reality and she got the full blast of who was waiting by the door. Turning around she saw Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade were standing by the door that they had left open, plus a girl around Naruto's age who she recognised from the park.

"Hi." Sakura greeted happily, jumping off the piano stool and ran over to them but before she could make it over to them her grandpa call out.

"Don't you have two more pieces to complete?" Taking in what her grandpa had just said, Sakura thought through he said before collapsing face first on the floor. I forgot about that, Sakura cursed as she jump back on to her feet and gave her guardian a pouting look at him.

"Oh come on grandpa! I haven't seen Naruto for weeks." She whined, stomping one of her feet and folding her arms across her chest. In return her grandfather just raised one of his eye brows in an amused manner but the rest of his face was tense with seriousness.

"Really, give me one good excuse why I should let you off early." Her grandfather demanded from her, remaining where he stood firmly to the ground while Sakura thought quickly of what she should say so she could be let go to play with Naruto and his friend.

"I'll never complain about your cooking again." Sakura smiled, waiting for the right moment to come. For a few seconds her grandfather hadn't move from his spot or seemed to breathe in a single atom of oxygen. All of a sudden, a burst of laughter erupted from the man's throat. Everyone except Sakura sweat dropped at the scene of the old man.

"Well, if you're really that desperate..." The old man snickered, finally controlling his laughter so he was now able to talk without having to stop every few seconds. "You may go and play but be back before the sunset!" He order, turning back into full commander mode again. His granddaughter wasted no time putting her shoes back on and taking both the old man's hands in hers and started dragging him towards the opening so they could all go to the park.

"So you're eyes can like see everywhere?" Sakura questioned the shy Hyuga princess who stood on the grown below her, while Sakura was hanging upside from the monkey bars, watching the girl nod her head ferociously. When she first tried to talk to Hinata properly for the first time the young girl was shocked to discover how intermitted she could easily be. The girl was completely different from the protective older sister she had met weeks got when they stood up to the bullies together. However, despite her shyness (not to mention the weird index finger pressing thing she does was a little weird) the girl was very sweet and soft spoke. Sakura couldn't help but notice that the girl seemed to hang awfully close to Naruto, who was the complete opposite to her. While Konohagakure future hokage was loud, hyperactive and proud, Hinata was quite, controlled and sweet. The two made an old couple but Sakura could see by the way they looked and treated each other that they were closer than anything that the girl could ever believe possible. The other fact that she liked about this girl was that she had an awesome ability; not to mention she wasn't a stuck up heiress like Sakura had feared at first when she realised who she really was.

"Yeah, it's like impossible to play hide and seek with her." Naruto happily pointed out as well as he dangled next to Sakura, the only difference being that he was the right way up. As usual the two Sannin sat further away from them on a bench, along with Sakura's grandfather; catching up on old times he said. Pretending they were too busy talking (or mostly) but all three children could tell from the quick glances that the three older people kept shooting in their direction told them that they were keeping a close eye on the children. Unlike last time they had been at the park, it was all very busy with children of different ages playing but somehow managed to keep a two mile radius away from Naruto. The secret pink hair ninja still found it strange why everyone reacted weird around the boy but she couldn't figure out why. Just like the rest of the people that seemed to like Naruto, Hinata just ignored all of the random stares they received from some of the adults. The girl was tempted to question them about it but was having so much fun that she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Hinata, you've known knucklehead here for a long time, how do you put up with him?" Sakura questioned, it had nothing to do with the last thought but she was interested to know how these bizarre people met each other. The young heiress fingers instantly began pushing into each other as the child hid her face further into her hooded jacket.

"Well, our families are pretty good friends, so they've known each other since we were babies." Hinata answered shyly, which helped Sakura understand more.

"Oh man, look who decided to rear his ugly head."Naruto suddenly hissed in a bad mood. Both girls looked up in the direction Naruto was talking about. Sakura wasn't sure what she was meant to be looking at until the smell of arrogance filled the air. Her senses directed her towards the two boys dressed in dark ninja training clothes who had just entered the park. The was an air of respected around them, especially the youngest one who seemed to have long frown plaster on his face. As the teenager sat on a bench just a few distances away from where their grandparents were sitting, the little brother made his way to the wings. The children who had been seen on the swings before jumped off and ran to a different item to play with while the raven haired boy took control of the swing seat. Only a second had pasted when a blonde girl with a purple outfit and a high blonde ponytail joined him with love hearts in her eyes and a smile on her face; the boy however did not seem please to see them.

"Who's that?" Sakura questioned, asking herself how a boy that young could seem so full of himself.

"Who? That teme?" Naruto pointed out towards the boy on the swing with a disgusted look on his face. She gave a simple nod, not knowing that this gesture would cause an angry rant to erupt from the hyperactive blonde. During the boys angry outburst, Sakura was trying her best to pay attention and not laugh, since the site of her friend getting all wound up about some guy he hated was quite a funny to watch. The parts she had been able to learn when she wasn't busy trying to hold back her laughter was that the guys name was Sasuke Uchiha (or teme as Naruto preferred to call him) like Hinata the moody looking boy was also the child of the clan leader and thought he was better than everyone else because of his families special ability. Sakura had never met an Uchiha before except when she delivered a takeout round once to the police force which was basically running with those people because their ancestors had started the whole thing thanks to the first Hokage. Also judging by Hinata's expression when Sakura caught glimpses of the girl shooting quick nervous glances at the other clan heir that she didn't really like him too. Surely the guy can't be that bad, Sakura thought half way through Naruto's argument of how stuck up the Uchiha boy was. However, she was about to be put up to the test when the raven coloured boy finally got bored of the swings and left the blonde haired girl behind him as he made his way over to the climbing frame, stopping right in front of the small group. "What do you want?" Naruto demanded, sending distasteful glares towards the boy who was standing only a few steps away from them.

"Wondering what you losers are doing here at the park." Sasuke retorted un-emotionlessly, standing straight like he was a high king and they were all his subjects. It was at that moment, that Sakura realised that maybe Naruto wasn't that far off from his description of the guy because he had been here for less than a minute and he had already insulted them.

"Playing." Was the secret pink hair girl reply, forcing the stuck up snob to look at her for the first time like she only just seemed to pop out of nowhere.

"Playing?" The Uchiha questioned with a repugnant look on his face at the very thought of the word. Like the word 'playing' was a taboo cursed among the boys clan.

"Yeah, you know, the fun thing kids do with their friends." Sakura replied sarcastically, forcing an annoyed vein to thump angrily on his forehead. Her comment had caused Naruto to fall to the ground and began laughing his head off while Hinata tried desperately to suppress little giggle. Despite not knowing this relationship between these people well, she had a feeling that she had hit a nerve point of some kind.

"Yeah, something you wouldn't know about!" Naruto shouted back happily at the Uchiha, answering half of Sakura's question. The vein at the top of his forehead began pumping furiously against Sasuke's colourless skin tone, his dark eyes glared at them with a look of utter insult.

"Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of idiots like you?" The clan heir said at, his insult cutting deep.

"What makes I think we would ever let you hang out with us?" Naruto snapped back quickly at his arch rival. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the clever come back her new friend had come up with but the moment had suddenly changed when both boys sent deathly glances at each other and Naruto's fist were beginning to clench and unclench.

"Please calm down." Hinata interrupted also sensing the build up of tension between the two and had decided to step in before anything got worse. Better you then me, Sakura thought, since she knew she would have just made the thing a whole lot worse. Besides, the shy young girl had a calm presence around her which seemed to break up the worse of the dark atmosphere that had clouded the area. "There's no need for all this fighting, we'll just go and play somewhere else and leave you along." Hinata answered with much intelligence and seriousness as she could muster in her soft spoken voice. On the other hand, Sakura did not like the idea of having to move from the piece of playing equipment but if it stopped and violence happening then it was a worth a try.

"Well spoken from a weakling." Sasuke cursed the Hyuga heiress, causing a hurtful look to appear on Hinata's face and a shocked angry look from Naruto. The delivery girl's blood went cold as her mind took in the insult. If someone knew Sakura well then there were a few things about her temper that people were careful about; you could beat her to a pulp or insult her with the most venomous insults known to man but none of these got to her. Only two things did – taking the mick out of her slightly large forehead and insulting people who were dear to her. Before anyone could say or do anything, Sakura attacked. Swinging from the frame she had been dangling from, the girl slammed her fist into the Uchiha's face, sending him flying across the playground.

"I'll make you pay for saying that!" The ten year old girl swore, as she stomped towards the boy that was now half embedded to a tree. If she had been allowed to continue she was sure that she would of butchered him to death and even though she didn't like him she would of regretted her actions. Thankfully, her friends ignored the dangerous killer intent that was vibrating like a heat wave from her body and grabbed on to her, using all their might to keep her from killing him - even though Naruto was happy about what Sakura did he wasn't going to let his new friend kill his arch rival, otherwise he would just have Kiba to argue with and that wasn't as fun, plus he didn't want his friend to make things anymore worse for himself when he finally noticed the adults and Sasuke older brother approach.

"Sakura Rieko Haruno you will calm down this instance!" Her grandfather commander with ease as Sakura suddenly went slump – it was a skill that old man had embraced when he had taught at the ninja academy. Despite her calmness now, the two children refused to let go of their friend, fearing that as soon as she was let go she would charge again. By this time Sasuke had pulled himself away from the tree and was now storming back towards them. He probably would have slugged her one back even if people were watching if his older brother hadn't taken control of the angry youth.

"Are you crazy? You punch me in the face!" Sasuke shrieked, a red mark around his eye was glowing. Sakura only growled like a wolf ready to attack again, quickly, Hinata and Naruto gripped on to her arms again, not trusting her to control her temper.

"It's your own fault teme, you shouldn't have insulted Hinata." Naruto shouted back at him, trying to defend both of his dear friends.

"Is this true Sasuke?" The older Uchiha spoke for the first time, making everyone look at him for the first time. In response the younger brother looked away with a guilty expression, giving away the truth instantly to the trained ninja who were trained to see underneath the underneath.


	6. November 10th

Sakura could not hide the grin on her face as her grandfather gave her a lecture about only using the fighting abilities he gave her to only use in self-defence. Hell, she didn't even care if the man forced her to do a killer work out or some other punishment; the black eye that had been growing as he left was priceless. It was all worth it. On the other hand she really didn't need to worry about being disciplined by her guardian. He had a past history with the Uchiha's himself and he was sure that kid had deserved it, even though Sakura had a really bad temper she was good at not bringing her fists into it unless it was absolutely necessary. However, Sakura didn't know that and he knew that he couldn't encourage this sought of behaviour so a long boring lecture would have to do for now at least. Further off, the four other people presence were waiting to go, since the day had gone by quicker than they expected and had totally lost touch of the time.

"So what have we learnt?" The old man asked, using the techniques he had learned from his teaching days at the academy and tried to look as intimidating as possible. The whole scene created flash backs for the two Sanni's that stood watching the whole scene in front of them. However, the granddaughter could see through the whole and just sighed at the idea of pretending that she had learned something.

"Never use fighting unless in self-defence." Sakura stated the sentence like she was reading it out of a text book. Unless it's the bastard Uchiha, then I can kick his ass whenever I think he says something I don't like! Sakura secretly thought to herself but the man that stood above her could easily read it from the top of her face. Nevertheless, he knew he would not be able to win this battle and hoped that she had at least taken in what he had said and would think next time before she acted.

"Are you done telling Sakura now?" Naruto shouted from where he was so loudly that a flock of birds quickly took flight from the nearby trees. The girl giggled, running over to them no thinking about if her grandfather was finished telling her off or not. She grabbed her friend hands and pulled them off in the direction of her house with the adults following closely behind. They talked the whole way, somewhere in there conversation the two hyperactive children began having a loud debate about what weapon was better -kunai or katana- with Hinata throwing in a political answer in the end to stop the two nearly going at each other throats. In the end, they finally made it back to Sakura's house and everyone realised what it meant. "Oh man, I can't believe it's the end of the day already!" the blonde boy complained and crossed his arms over his chest with a pout on his face. On normal days, Sakura might have laughed at the expression if she didn't feel the same way and was probably pulling the same face as him. The other girl was a little more held back but she also had a sad slump in her shoulders. I might not see these guys again for weeks! She thought and it even made her more depressed knowing she wasn't going to have her two new friends around to play and talk with for a while.

"I'm sorry kids, I know your free time is very limited." Tsunade pointed out, since the children either had school to attend or work. Her old sensei had been explaining to them about the current situation that he and his granddaughter shared. Suddenly, Naruto clicked his fingers together as if he had come up with an idea.

"Sakura! What are you doing this weekend?" Naruto quickly asked catching Sakura off guard for a bit before she pulled herself together in the end and went through her schedule in her head.

"Working morning until early afternoon, why?" She asked the boy and became a little suspicious when the overexcited ninja in trainings smile grew even bigger.

"Perfect, that means you can come to my birthday party this Saturday!" He cheered and at first Sakura was happy about this… until she realised what was happening on the same date.

Sakura had never felt so nervous in her whole entire life as she woke up that morning on the following Saturday. There were two reasons why she hated this day the most off all her life: it was her birthday and she seemed to be jinxed on this day. Every year her ability seemed to grow stronger and stronger and today when she woke up she felt that it had intensified massively from the past few years; for example she could sense that her grandfather was down stairs sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal when before she would only be able to sense that he was down stairs somewhere. Not to mention the fact that it was also her friend's birthday party that she had invited her to this afternoon and she had never been to one of these things before. The whole of last night was of her wrapping up his present that she was praying he would like and picking out a suitable outfit for the occasion. Naruto had told her just to go casual but the thing was he came from the rich district, she didn't know what their idea of casual was. Not to mention she didn't have anything 'casual' to wear, everything she owned was either work or training clothes. In the end she picked the most normal thing she could pick out of the line-up of outfits and stuff them in the bag that she was carrying everything in. Another thing that worried her that she was leaving her grandfather all by himself. A million panicked thoughts ran through her head about leaving him alone until her smacked her one the back of the head to calm her and promised to take it easy and have all his medicine (though she doubted the last one) Getting herself dressed in her work out fit she skipped down stairs, bouncing into the kitchen to sit up with her old man at the table. At least he didn't try to make breakfast like last year. She thought to herself, a cold shiver went down her back at how he had tried to cook her a birthday breakfast last year and it didn't turn out entirely well. For a long while they sat in silence as they ate their food and just admired having some peace and quiet for a while.

"Happy Birthday kiddo." He said at last as he pushed a small, rectangle package over towards her. Sakura sighed but she did not complain like she used to do. They had come to understand that she didn't want much fuss over this special day for her and that he believed she at least deserved a small gift to celebrate this occasional. The wrapping paper was a plain brown colour and with steady fingers she pleaded away the soft tissue to reveal what was hidden underneath all the layers.

"Cool a butterfly knife." She smiled as her hands began magically performing tricks with it. After she had a go with it she examined it carefully. It wasn't brand new -but then again she had nothing that was brand new- however, it was still fit to use and had been made well; she loved it. Her grandfather smiled at her gleefulness as she continued to play with the small weapon. It had been his when he was a child and knew that if anyone deserved to have it and would look after the item it would be her. "Thanks grandpa." She beamed as she raced to the other side of the table and hugged him.

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The voice echoed again and again loudly inside her head as she zoomed down the path of expansive houses. Her shifted had ran over half an hour early than expected because they were short staffed today. Not to mention that she had never been in this part of town before, so she had no idea where she was going. She ran around different corners as she tried to make sense of the street names and paths she had to follow. According to this map, Naruto's house should be right… Woah! Sakura thought as she skidded to a stop right outside the front gates. It wasn't a house; it was a bloody fortified mansion. Even standing from a great distance away you could tell the place was massive and had a whole role of trees outlining the path to it. Not to mention the threatening iron gates that haunted her. Is this really Naruto's place? Sakura thought to herself as she looked at the map and the scene in front of her as she tried to identify something that would help her give an accuse to run away.

"About time you got here princess!" A familiar voice boomed from above her. Looking up to see who it was, a great smile grew across her face and now she didn't feel so threaten by the place.

"Gamakichi!" Sakura cheered as she bounced over to him, suddenly not as scared of the place as she had just been before. The toad just gave her a grim expression.

"What you so happy about? You're late and I've been stuck outside waiting for you." The toad spat, sending her a bored, dark look on his face. Even though she felt a little guilty about making the little amphibian stay out here to wait for her but she couldn't help but let a small smile spread across her face. "Though, if you have any more of the candy stuff I might just forgive you." He grinning, rubbing his fingers together at her. Laughing her head off, her hands fumbled through her bag as she picked up a hand fall and tossed one towards him. Greedily, he ate the food and then jumped on top of her head.

"So I'm a cab now as well." She smirked at him as she lifted up her hand so the toad was able to gain access to the sweets. The animal just tapped her on the head as if he was a teacher who was giving a student a well done. She was sure he would have said something sarcastic back at her if his mouth hadn't been so filled with food. Again, he patted her on the head and directed her towards the gates. Before she knew it the gates were open and she was being driven around by a beast sitting on her head.

"I don't know what you're talking about I think it's nice." Sakura argued with the animal that had made its camp on the top of their head as they passed one of the tenth gigantic paintings she had seen walking through the massive hallways of the mansion. They were beautiful decorated with solid wooden that had been polished to perfection, shaped to make large archways and gleaming white marble floors. I've got to get the label of the products they use to clean this place, Sakura wondered to herself as the made their way done the hallway.

"Are you kidding, it's just a painting full of people, seriously you humans don't know what art is- turn left." The toad quickly added as they came to the next turning point and she automatically turned but not because the frog told to. As soon as she stepped on to the property her sense came alive. This allowed her to see the extent of her new amplified abilities. They stretched all the way to the edge of the garden (which is a pretty big distance) and the three different levels of the house. She could sense everyone was in the largest room on the far side with the adults hanging around the sides with the children playing in the centre. It also made it easier that there was loud music echoing in the direction that she was heading in. What is with these people and huge double doors? Sakura wondered to herself as she pushed the doors open a little too strongly. The doors slammed open to reveal her presence for a short second before the doors slammed against the wall and slammed the door in her face again. Well, that was not the slightest bit embarrassing, Sakura joked to herself as she trying to move through the totally embarrassed stage to the facing your fears one. This time she clung on to the door as she pushed it open and gently closed it again.

"Sorry about that." She winced, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly as she addressed everyone in the room. Quickly looking around she could see that everyone looked a little dressed up then what you would 'casual' all the women were dressed in pretty dress and the man had at least a tidy shirt and proper trousers. On the other hand, she was dressed in black leggings and a long purple t-shirt.

"Did I forget to tell you that you had to be gentle with the door." Gamakichi spoke from the top of her head, which also reminded her that she had a toad on the top of her scarf covered head. I knew there was a reason I hated this day, Sakura moaned at herself as she sent daggers towards the little animal.

"It would have been helpful to know Gama." She hissed back at the creature and he just stuck his very long, slim tongue at her.

"Do I still get candy?" He asked and with a deep sigh she tossed another piece to him.

"That's the last one I'm afraid." She pointed out to him but the toad was too busy chewing loudly to notice and collapsed on the top of her head. I think I fed him too much candy. She wondered to herself as he began to slip off her head and she quickly caught him in her hand. "I think that's enough for you now." She smiled at him. The only response she got was a thumbs out from him.

"Sakura you made it!" Naruto sang loudly and looking up from where she stood she saw that her friend had approached her and was beaming right at her with such pearly white teeth that she felt like she was almost blinded by it.

"Yeah, sorry I'm later then I said I would be, happy birthday!" She smiled in return as she handed over his birthday present. The gift had been way over the budget Sakura had intended on but when she saw it she just knew it had to be the thing to give her. Sure, she had to dip into her own little fund that she was saving up to buy a katana but this was totally worth it, she just had to get it. Slowly, the boy tore the skin of the continents off and pulled away the paper. The skin of his fingers surf over the soft orange material of the item before pulling it out totally to reveal a orange cloak with black flames surrounding the bottom. His face lit up like a firework and before she could blink had the cloak on.

"This is so cool!" He yelled and taking her by the wrists dragging her to a small group of adults in the corner. "Dad look! I look just like you!" Cheering in joy. Though in Sakura's opinion he didn't need the jacket to make him look like the man he referred to. Son and father shared the same crazy blonde hair and big blue eyes that always seemed to have a mischievous twinkle in them. The man was also very tall, something that his son had yet to gain from his father yet and wore his tradition Hokage cloak (somehow similar to the one Sakura has brought Naruto) over a shinobi outfit. Sakura knew that the leader of the village was Naruto's father from previous conversations but meeting the person in real life was a whole different story, she suddenly felt the need to bow or something. Her green eyes quickly flicked onto the beautiful woman standing next to him, who had glorious long red hair that went all the way down her back, with creamy skin and violet eyes framed with long lashes and standing next to her was another tall man with gravity defying silver hair and one lone black eye since the rest of his face was completely covered with a mask.

"It looks amazing sweet heart." His mother spoke as she bent down and pulled the dancing boy over to her, so she could smothering him with kisses.

"Mum!" Her son complained as she tried to smeared away the areas where his mother had kissed him and looked completely embarrassed but was soon back to his happy self in no time and went back to admiring his new jacket again.

"Looks good on you brother, not trying to steal dad's place already are you?" The covered man in the corner teased him and Naruto shot him a half amused look but also a determined annoyance.

"You're just jealous Kakashi." Naruto answered, sticking his tongue out at him. In a flash, everything had changed and the silver haired man now had his little brother in a headlock and was messing up his already crazy hair even more and Naruto was doing his best to try and wrestle the fall sized man off him.

"Alright boys calm down now, there's no need to fight now." The Hokage finally spoke up and both of them stopped instantly, like they were following a commander's order. Now, both of them sat on the floor laughing their heads off and were playfully punching each other on the arm. Sakura could only stare and look at this bizarre sight. She couldn't believe they were brothers, they looked nothing like each other and there was no resemblance between him or the parents, not to mention the two adults looked a little too old to have given birth to him; could he of possibly be adopted or something? Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a low groan echo and looked down to see the toad looked like he was starting to recover from have too much sugar. The orange frog finally looked up at her but his tongue to loop out of his mouth.

"Can I have some more sweets please?" He inquired and she had to use all her power not to smack him on the head for asking such a silly question. However, she doubted it would do much help comparing the state was already in.

"Maybe later you should have a glass of water or something." She suggested as she crouched down and placed the little animal on the floor. With a little nudge, Gamakichi was back on his feet and bouncing toward another door, complaining about how water was not as good as candy. "Sorry I think I gave him too much." She apologies to Naruto who was watching the animal bounce off. Looking back at her she only responded by showing off a big toothy grin towards her.

"Don't worry about it, that frogs always eating too much." Naruto grinned as he finally decided to bounce back on to his feet and dusted off his clothing. "Mum, dad, Kakashi, this is Sakura, my new friend. Sakura this is my family." The boy introduced her to the small group who all smiled back at her with such friendliness that she couldn't help but be a little taken back by how much there was.

"Hello." She waved nervously at them.

"Welcome Sakura, we're glad you could make it." The Hokage greeted her and now the outsider could feel herself feel even more nervous than she had just been five seconds ago. These were her friend's parents and she so badly wanted them to like her. Man! She sounded like one of those girlfriends meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time; how sad was that. Thankfully the moment was cut short when Hinata and her family came over to drag her and Naruto away.


	7. Secerts we should not know

"Happy Birthday Naruto!" Everyone sang as the huge birthday cake was placed down at the now officially turned ten year old boy who looked up at the gigantic sugary goodness that stood before him. With a deep breath, he blew out all the candles and everyone cheered. With just a few swift slices, Naruto's mum had cut enough pieces of cake for everyone to share – it had been quite funny to watch the red haired woman to scorn her for not taking off his new gloves with metal plates off because they could of got cake stains on them- taking these few moments of silence that had suddenly fallen on the large group, Sakura took the opportunity to run through all the pieces of information she had gathered about this family. From what she had found out, apart from his two parents none of these people were actually related to the birthday boy. Jiraiya and Tsunade were adoptive grandparents (since Minato lost his parents at a young age and they were the closet he had to guardians himself) Kakashi was Naruto's adoptive brother, The third hokage was kind of the boys great grandfather figure with his son acting as a cousin, his grandson Konohamaru acted as a sought of younger brother, aunty Shizune was Tsunade adopted apprentice and Uncle Iruka was his academy teacher. Yet despite not actually being blood related they really did looked and acted like a family. She would have felt like she was intervening on a family dinner if the Hyuga family had not been there and even that was pushing the limit because they were close family friends. If she had her way she would have sunk out of the closet door and disappeared but Naruto was hanging on to her side like a little puppy. Though she was surprised that apart from herself and Hinata there were no other children that were around their age group; strange?

"This cake is delicious mum!" The birthday boy called out to his mother with a huge chunk of chocolate in his mouth. The woman smiled at him before turning back to the younger children who were bickering over who got the biggest slice. Sakura only smiled at the scene in front of her and continued eating her cake. For most of the day she had been silent, not trusting what she would say in front of these people unless it was just in front of Hinata and Naruto. Sighing deeply, she finished off the plate of food and sat quietly as Naruto finished off his. As she waited a song she knew appeared on the music player and she began swaying along slight to it. For a second… just a second, she moved so close to Naruto that her hand brushed against his. At that brief contact something strange happen. Raw energy ran up her arm and her vision went entirely blank until something orange started glowing. As it grew bigger it turned into the shape of a fox and with such evil that she had never felt before launched at her, its terrifying roar smashed through skull so loudly that it almost felt like it had smashed it into a thousand pieces. A loud scream echoed from her mouth as she clutched on to her head from the amount of pain that burned through her skull. Worried voices echoed somewhere in the distance from her but the pain in her head made it unbearable to focus on who was talking to her. It wasn't until a sudden coolness started pushing the fire out of her brain that she was able to finally focus and find Tsunade kneeling in front of her with a hand on top of her head. Blinking a few times she tried to remember where she was and what had happened. Another person called her name and she looked over to see her friend was a bit closer and was looking at her with a worried expression. The Nine Tailed Beast! Sakura thought wildly with the sudden urge to get up and run. She didn't know how but she knew it was there, somewhere inside him. But she didn't understand how. The terror must have been clear on her face because he seemed to suddenly move away; like he sensed that he felt dangerous towards her.

"Come on, let's go outside and get some air." The old medic suggested and offered her hand to help out up. Taking it she allowed the woman to pull her to her feet but halfway through the lifting process she got another image in her head of Tsunade bending over a man with her hands glowing green over his stomach. She was crying and there were massive amounts of blood everywhere. All at once a million emotions hit her in the stomach and she was overwhelmed with what was going on. As soon as it came it was gone and this time she staggered. If the woman had not grabbed her by the shoulders she would have fallen over. With her help, she was able to make her way through the crowd of observers, through the twisted maze of halls and finally out of the back door which led her to the garden. It was a huge place with a water fountain that was hidden in the corner with hundreds of wild flowers grounding around it, a small patio area where the family could eat breakfast outside and plenty of grass pace for people to train. Being outside helped Sakura beating heart to calm down a little and allowed the woman to lead her to the chairs so that she could sit down. She tried to avoid all eye connect with the woman as possible but that did not stop the overwhelming authority she processed. "Tell me what happened Sakura, what you had was no ordinary headache." She demanded to know but the little girl could honestly not tell her. It had happened so fast that she wasn't sure what was happening herself. Plus, there was also the fact that she had never told anyone of her strange power before and she didn't know if she should explain it to the woman or not. However, the woman had known there was something different about the whole thing and would probably know that she was lying.

"I have this… weird ability." Sakura started off, still trying to find the words to describe this oddness about her and how she thought it might have affected her. The woman only waited as she allowed the girl to pull herself together. "Before today I could just sense things like where some things were and what a person might do next but this morning… it was different, it was like my sensing ability had doubled." She suddenly stopped thinking back to how she was able to sense what her grandfather was actually doing, along with the other villager of the leaf she had sensed during her deliver runs. "And just a few moments ago, I grazed against Naruto's hand and this image of the nine tail beast suddenly just attack me and with you I saw…" Remembering the image, she did not dare say something that was probably very personal to the lady out loud in case she caused offense. Nothing but silence passed by. Risking a look she saw complete and utter surprise on the woman's face but also fear. Quickly, she looking down at the patio again and watched her feet kick back and forth.

"What did you see?" The woman asked so calmly that it almost shocked her. For a few minutes Sakura just watched her feet swinging back and forth, thinking of how to put the words gently.

"You were trying to save Dan." She finally said in the end, trying to keep it short and to the point but as she dared to look up into the woman's face, she knew that no matter what she said, there was no way she could stop the sharp pain that had been stabbed on to the woman's face.

"How did you know his name?" The woman questioned a little snappier then she intended by the sound of her taking in a quick breath to stop herself from saying anything else. She seemed a bit taken back by the question at first and took a moment to digest it. How did she know the blokes name? It was only then the girl realised that she knew a lot more stuff about this woman and her friend then she had before. Of course she didn't know everything about them but she seemed to know stuff that was linked to what she saw.

"I'm not sure but for some reason I know that you had a fear of blood and Naruto's a Jinchuuriki." Plus, for some strange reason I also know that Naruto has a yellow frog, a blue dolphin and orange fox stuff teddy bears at the bottom of his bed that he can't sleep without? Sakura thought to herself but decided now was not the proper time to bring up things like this. Especially since she brought up Jinchuuriki, she was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to know that piece of information. "Funny! I should have put the clues together." She couldn't help but mutter out loud, so that the woman could hear. Of course there was most of the villagers giving him evils every time he walked by, the weird whisker marks on her cheeks and not to mention the fact that his birthday was on the anniversary of the fox's attack; which reminded her the festival was on later tonight.

"Sakura, as you may or may not know you can't mention this to any one, it's dangerous!" The old medic exclaimed causing the ten year old to look up at her. She didn't trust her tongue to say anything so she just nodded. Though she didn't know about how she was going to deal with it, Naruto should know that she knew about his little secret but what if she did say something. Would he hate her? She hadn't meant to read his mind but still this was big! I knew there was a reason why I hated this day! Sakura moaned to herself as she collapsed against the back of the chair she was sitting in. Her hands lay limp in lap, picking the up she stared at them like they were some abnormal object; they weren't just her hands any more. I wish I was normal, Sakura whined as she tucked them under her shirt.

"I'm sorry." Sakura apologies, they sat a part from each other, not saying anything. Then something was thrust under her noses.

"Wear these; they might stop you from accidently reading people's minds." She offered as Sakura took the black leather gloves from the woman's slender (the first thing she thought was where did these gloves suddenly appeared from) steadying the well-made material between her fingers, she slowly placed them on her own. They were a little big but she had a sudden love for them. Cool! She thought, as she stretch the bottom of the glove down and made a fist, listening to the material creak. Again, so cool! The girl felt like a proper fighter with these gloves on. In a way, these were kind of like a temporary birthday present. "Come on, let's get back inside, everyone's probably waiting for us." The woman suggested, taking her by the shoulder and guiding her back into the house. Once they stepped back inside it was like stepping into a hairdressers. The gossips instantaneously stopped when they were notified of their presence when they stepped back into the room. Instantly, she was surrounded by her friend and was being asked a tonne of a million questions.

"I'm okay guys really, just got a little over excited." She faked smiled back at them and rubbed the back of her neck again sheepishly for the second time that day. At the moment she wasn't bothered about making a good excuse up. Her eyes were too busy following Tsunade, who had left her to whisper in the Hokage's ear. Oh crap! Sakura thought to herself as she could just imagine how much trouble she'll be in. As long as I don't get dissected I don't mind being a lab rat, she half joked and tried to ignore the constant stares she was receiving. They may be elite ninjas but her ability could still sense what they were doing and it was not pleasant because it just left an unpleasant itch on the back of her neck and it was making it hard for her to concrete. Damn you super enhance abilities! She cursed as she scratched the back of her neck for the tenth time. It was surprising that half her skin hadn't come off yet; if it continued this way though it was defiantly going to happen.

"Have you got an infection or something?" A six year old Konohamaru asked as he had been watching her do the same thing for the last ten minutes. You could say that tiny person, she thought inwardly but just laughed it off instead.

"What's the matter? Scared you're going to catch something." Sakura teased the poor child mercilessly.

"I'm not scared!" The youngest boy protested to protect his pride (which the girl thought he was a bit too young to be caring about just yet) to show there was no hard feelings, she handed him a chocolate cup cake for the food table which he was happy to eat. She ruffled the top of his head like a grown up would do when they were congratulate them for completely a painting. Somehow, Tsunade had been right about the gloves, so now every time she touched someone she didn't get weird visions. Though it was still new and something she had to experiment on since she wasn't a hundred per cent if it really was the gloves stopping it or not. Another that got Sakura so tense was dancing, it was something she never really did and watching everyone else dance was like sitting at a dance show contest, everyone seemed to be performing some musical foot number; there was no way she was going to dance in front of them.

"Come on Sakura you've got to give it a try." Naruto cheered at her as he and Hinata just finished partying to the last song. However, she was stubborn and she stayed in the corner of the wall and shook her head furiously.

"No way, I was born with two left feet, think how embarrassing it will be." Sakura argued back what she had learned recently that when the boy set his mind to it he could be as equally as determined as an unbreakable solid metal. She could only sigh at his attempts as she rolled her head which landed on a large group of adults leaving the room.

"Don't be silly, just try it at least." Naruto protested but she didn't take much notice because she couldn't help but think something was up. Closing her eyes she focused on the group trying to see where they were going. But her meditation was broken when something tugged on her t-shirt.

"Can you take me to the toilet please?" A five year old Hanabi asked with her voice half muffled by the teddy bear that was stuck in front of her face. The green eyed girl couldn't help but wonder why she was being asked this and looked around the room to see all her relatives were on the floor dancing.

"Yeah sure." She agreed and taking the child's hand and led her out of the room. If there was one thing about her abilities that she liked then it was the ability to never get lost in a building and was soon able to find the toilet. Just in time as well as the kid was about to go whether she was in a toilet or not. Patiently, Sakura waited outside, forced to listen to the nursery rhymes the little girl was singing on the other side of the room; they weren't bad but they sounded corny. The tapping of feet caught her attention and she turned to see the birthday boy walking towards her.

"Hey! You were able to find the toilet." He grinned widely at her and it took a few moments to realise what he meant; she wasn't supposed to know where the toilet was!

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard to find." Sakura quickly answered and scratched the back of her neck again. Even with people not watching she had the urge to tickle that spot. This is getting bad, she thought as she forced her hand away from her skin. "So what you doing here? Checking to see I hadn't fallen into a hole or something." She tormented with great satisfaction. The look on his face was priceless.

"No! I just wanted to know if you found the toilet." He protested, thought it sounded like a weird way to do it. The flush of a chain caught their attention and after a tap being turned on and off Hanabi stepped back into the hall.

"You all done." Sakura smiled and the girl nodded. Just as they were about to leave Sakura's sense caught on to something. Oh shit! She thought and tried to rush them back along. "Come on Naruto, you can show me a few of those dance moves you've been showing off all day." The girl mused as she tried pulling them both along but they were not fast enough to escape their terrible shouting that grew louder and louder.

"What's that?" The hyperactive blonde demanded to know to himself as he loosened his grip from her hold and proceeded down the hall to check it out.

"It's probably nothing, I'm sure the adults will deal with it." She tried to convince him but this seemed to make the boy more determined and his strides became longer as he moved towards the end of the hall. Panic settled on the older girl's chest as she tried to figure out what to do. "Hanabi, can you get back to the party room by yourself?" She asked, trying to seem calm but without much success. As soon as the child gave her a firm nod, Sakura raced after her friend. Using her ability to track him. The closer she got to him the more noise that came from the direction she headed in. Finally, she pushed herself through the front door to be meant with a horrifying show. On the other side of the get hundreds of people stood holding touches, weapons and bangers that said stuff like 'kill the demon' she had felt their presence and the atmosphere but feeling it and witnessing it were two different things altogether. In fact she even recognised some of the people near the front of the crowd. In front of her stood Naruto who had frozen solid to the ground. "Naruto." She called out to him but he did not seem to hear as he just stood where he was.

"Kill the beast, kill the beast." The crowds chanted and the amount of hatred that was burning through the atmosphere and seemed to sip into her skin. Every cell in her body was crying out in agony and her head became dizzy from all the pain she was enduring. A part of her wanted to disappear inside the house where the walls seemed to protect her but she couldn't just leave her friend behind. Biting down hard on her bottom lip, she forced her way forward. Every time another mountain of anger flew through the air and hit her in the face like she was being hit but a hammer. Still, she kept going and finally reached his side. The boy was looking on the scene with a horrified expression on his face and she couldn't blame him. Scanning the scene also she could see that the adults who had left were trying to calm the enormous crowd down without much success. It looked like the Hokage had called in some back up, since there were many men and women wearing green vest lined up along the gate. Deciding she had enough, Sakura gripped on to the boys wrist and dug her nails into his skin; hard. Surprise by the pain, the gestured seemed to shock the boy right back into reality and he was looking at her.

"Are you okay Sakura?" Naruto questioned, his shock replaced with worry. But the question could not be answered when Jiraiya suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Get back inside you two, this is no place for you to be hanging around in." He ordered them to leave but Sakura could sense (through all her agony) that something was about to happen and it was not going to be pretty.

"Wait I know a few of those people let me talk to them." She begged him and even if he said no she had to try and convince him. "Please, I know the Hokage planning something and it isn't going to be good, you have to let me try to knock some sense into them." Her fiery emerald orbs stared into the face of the giant man that stood above them. As she looked on she could see something change inside his face, it looked like… understanding?

"Fine but I stick close to you at all times." The old man warned and she nodded in agreement. Looking at Naruto one last time he gave his hand a comforting hand before ushering him into the house. He seemed unwilling to at first until his grandpa summoned two frogs to literally drag him into the mansion. As soon as that was settle she ran across the grass towards the gates, ignoring the soldiers who tried to stop and and went to the closets person that she knew. Out of the hundreds of people she talked too, only twenty turned away.


	8. Inside Camping

Sitting by herself, Sakura needed some space to lay back and recharge. The whole mob had taken almost all her energy out of her and she was still suffering from the impact her advanced abilities had cost her. Stupid power, she cursed as she took another sip of tea that someone had made her. Who is was she did not know, she was spending most of her time trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. She still did not have the strength to turn her head and acknowledge her friend as he came and sat beside her. He was worried about her, she could tell. For a few minutes they just sat together, embracing each other's company and nothing more.

"Sakura, what happened out there?" Naruto questioned and she knew what he was talking about. Buzzing with worry, she debated with herself whether she should tell him the truth or not. If they were going to be friends she had to tell him the truth some day and honestly she did not have the energy to even try lying to his innocent face. So despite the warning that Lady Tsunade had given her she told him everything. About how her ability took a massive turn of events, what she saw when she touched them and how she felt when she stumbled out of the front doors to confront the mob. The whole time he said nothing. She could tell from some of his expressions whether he was mad, shocked or sad as she went through but by what or why affected him she did not know. Once she had finished he didn't even look at her. Instead he just stared at the wall ahead, his expression covered with total blankness. She didn't know what to do. Whether she should take his hand and try to comfort him or to get on her knees and beg him to forgive her, that it had been an accident and that she still wanted to be his friend. "You not afraid of me?" He suddenly commented out of nowhere, turning towards her again for the first time in what seemed like years, his baby blue eyes trying to hold back the pleading. At the moment she knew what to do. Taking his hands in both of hers, she smiled at him.

"Naruto you're one of the most important people in my life, I won't let some fox scare me off because we're friends and I'll stick by your side no matter what." After she had spoken, happiness returned to the boy's eyes and he seemed to be his whole self again.

"Alright!" He cheered, throwing a punch into the air. Sakura smiled but suddenly jumped up and joined him, feeling much more energetic then she had before. "What do you want to do now?" The boy suddenly popped the question and they both came to a complete stop. By now the party had been cancelled as a result of what happened to the mob The Hokage thought it would not be a safe place for the little ones, especially if there were still some people lurking around the place. They were the only children, since Sakura really had no protection to guide her home and Naruto didn't actually want her to go home anyway; or his other friends. Thinking deeply, she scratched the top of her head as she tried to come up with an idea.

"I know let's do some camping." Sakura cheered though her friend did not follow her idea.

"But mum and dad said we weren't allowed outside." He was quick to point out but this was only met by a sly smile on the young girls face.

"You don't have to go outside and camp." She was quick to add to her defence and before he could ask her what she meant, Sakura began running down the hall. "Race you to your room." She shouted back and laughed her head off when he only stood their looking confuse, until he remembered she was able to map out his whole house and was quick in pursuit. Though Naruto had more stamina, when it came to speed he could not beat her as the delivery girl all ready had a head start and with her swift agility, she was able to reach Naruto's room a good five minutes before him. The extra minutes she had gave her some time to have a small look around his room. The whole room was enormous with high ceilings and wide walls painted in orange, all of the shelves had mountains of books, ninja tools and toys, the floor was decorated with a soft blue carpet and had an orange rug with a giant white swirl place in the middle.

"That's cheating." He debated as he pointed an accusing finger at her but she only laughed the matter at hand away, thinking the little pout he was giving her was very funny and slightly cute, almost like a little baby. As soon as she was able to calm down (that was only when Naruto stopped pressing his lips together) her mind turned back to the serious work ahead. Running around the massive room that was filled with endless amounts of toys and ninja equipment, she grabbed every sheet, pillow and stick like object that lay around before dumping them on the floor.

"We're going to make a tent with all this items here." She announced with her friend only giving her an odd look. Sighing deeply, she picked up a piece of material and stick and showed him what to do. The boy watched intently, as Sakura went through all the items that she had collected and gave him demonstrations of what to do. As soon as he had gained hold of the simple basics of what to he tried himself. The first few times he failed miserably but with a little more guidance was able to fit everything together properly. He even suggested using the ninja wire he had lying around to tie it to the ceiling so they could make it bigger. So, as the green eyed girl work on the ceiling (since she was the only on that could get up there) and the birthday boy working around the bottom, the made a huge tent that covered a whole corner of the room. When that was down they began dragging items like pillows and games they could use inside to make it feel more comfortable and of course the blonde boy brought in his three favourite stuff animals.

"You can have one if you want?" He grinned at her as he indicated to the other stuff animals before disappearing into the tent himself. Walking around the room quickly she scanned the shelves of toys, seeing if anything caught her interest. In the end she reached up and took off the shelf a ting owl creature that was decorated with white and grey feathers with large gold eyes. The sound of something being dragged along the floor caught her attention and she turned around to see Naruto dragging a large box that he hadn't seen before dragging into the home made tent. Following he, she poke her head through the flap to see him tuck it into the far corner. "Can't go camping without a supply of food." He chimed as he opened the top of the lid to reveal a mixture of goodies hidden inside.

"Where did you get all of that?" She inquired, a little bit sceptical of how that food got in that box in the first place.

"I stash some stuff anyway for sleepovers and stuff." He shrugged before pulling out a packet of crisps and tossed them at her. Usually, she would condemn such behaviour, until she noticed the flavouring of the food once it had fallen into her hands. Yum! She thought as she opened the pack and tossed one of the flavoured crisps into her mouth. With the stuff bird placed securing between her arm and boy and using her other hands to eat the food she wondered inside and sat down on one of the cushy pillows they had placed in there to make the floor comfy to sit on. "What game do you want to play first?" He gestured to the mountain of board games they had dragged into the tent with them. Looking over what they had, Sakura selected the first one on top.

"Wanna play Renju?" She offered as she held up the box to get a good look at it. He nodded and with his help sought the compartments out between them. It was like a game of connect four, placing the white and black pieces in a line of five. Naruto started first, placing down two blacks and white. Immediately, the ten year old girl picked the white selection. The game didn't last very long, since the blonde boy only played it a few times and Sakura was more of a statistics thinker then him.

"What? That's like the fifth time in a row!" Naruto cried out when she placed another white playing piece down to make a row of five. In response she stuck her tongue out of him and beamed triumphantly at her latest achievement.

"Whoa! What have you kids done here then?" A new voice added to the conversation, making both of them jump out of their skins at the same time and turned to face the tall man who ducked in through the flap of the entrance. The toad sage seemed impressed that he could stand up in the children's make shift tent before settling himself next to them.

"Sakura taught me how to make tent from stuff just lying around." He smiled back at his adoptive grandfather who smiled back at him with a big cheesy grin that was similar to the one Naruto had. They're seriously not related? Sakura couldn't help but wonder since they were so much alike that it was almost terrifying to a certain degree.

"You should teach me, I can barely finally a tent that with fit my whole body." Jiraiya grinned and she couldn't help but blush a little from embarrassment. The only reason she knew how to do this type of stuff because her grandfather was never well enough to take her camping properly so she improvised a little at home to ease the burden on her shoulders as well as his that she could not have a normal life. She didn't know what to say next so just nodded her head in agreement instead.

"And she's super smart too; she beat me at Renju five times in a row." He huffed at the last comment folding his arms in an annoyed manner as the tension between the game had not drown out of his system just yet. The old man just laughed and messed his grandsons around messy hair up even more.

"Let's face it kid statically thinking is not your strongest point." The man joked but it seemed to offend Naruto a little bit as he grabbed the man's hand and push it off his head before returning them into annoyance pose once again. Sakura could feel the need to laugh grow bigger and bigger inside her stomach as she tried her best not to giggle at the poor boys embarrassment and make things worse for him.

"I don't remember this being here this morning." Another voice added itself to the conversation and everyone looked up to see the Hokage step through the entrance and smiled at everyone inside. Naruto basically repeated the same thing he had said to Jiraiya, though his father gave him a much kinder remark on how impatient he was and that he should play games like Renju more often to help boost his thinking. The boy was not at all happy with this until Minato suggested to think of it as ninja training since all shinobi's needed to know how to form battle plans with their team mates. Just like his sensei the man made his way to the centre of the tent and sat down next to all of them. "You two kids okay, it's been quite a lively day for?" He questioned concern for the children's well being but to his relief they gave positive responses.

"Tell us a story Grandpa!" Naruto suddenly begged as he made himself comfortable in the cushiness. Sakura caught interest in this as well and hugged the toy she was holding close to her chest. For a second she noticed that the old man had suddenly taken notice of the stuff animal she had and it seemed to surprise him that she had it but his wonder disappeared as quickly as it came and began telling the everyone a story.

Later that night, Naruto and Sakura were still inside their tent, trying to sleep but they both had too much energy buzzing around inside them to do that, though they had to remain quiet otherwise they would get in a lot of trouble with Naruto's mum if she found out they were still awake. They didn't even have a light to see each other's face and had to rely on their voices to keep them losing the other persons position.

"So you can sense everything that's happening in this house at the moment?" The birthday boy inquired. They had been talking about random things for most of the night but they had soon found themselves ending up on each other's special abilities they had from whatever force processed them.

"Yeah, all the women are in the kitchen talking, your dad and grandpa are in the study looking over maps and Kakashi's giggling his little head off at that perverted book he seems to carry everywhere." She listed for him and heard her friend mutter something in agreement with what she had said.

"Can't you shut it off?" Naruto inquired though Sakura could hear him smacking his head as if he had just realized he had said something stupid.

"No, it's like I can push out my senses to a certain point but I can't turn it off." She tried to explain in the simplest way she could imagine. At first she believe that it had not been easy enough to understand since the blonde boy had suddenly gone quiet and was rethinking a way to clarify what she didn't understand much herself when he soon spoke up.

"If that's how it works why don't you just pull it back in?" He simply stated. For a few seconds, Sakura just lay on her back thinking about what he said and thinking the process through her head before slapping herself on her own head.

"Of course why didn't I think of that?" She cried out, quickly smacking her hand over her mouth as she remembered she was supposed to be quiet. They waited until they were sure no one was coming in to check on them. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a genius?" She muttered out before realizing the shocking effect of her words. Naruto, a genius? Well there was a first for everything.

"Oh I know I am, just some people fail to realise it most of the time." He answered and Sakura didn't need to see his face to know he was smirking. To bring him down to earth again, Sakura kicked him on the leg. A little moan of pain followed suit and now she couldn't help but smile on her own face.

Days later, Sakura was skipping home from work for she was in a good mood from all the tips she received today. Just a few more and I'll finally be have to have my own katana, she sang inside her head as she thought back to the amazing sword she had seen in the shop window and knew that was the one she wanted. Soon she found herself on the porch of her home and went inside to greet her grandfather only to find he wasn't alone.

"Hello, Tsunade." She greeted as she came skidding into the kitchen and placing her bag and jacket on a hook. Though seeing the annoyed expressions on their faces, she wished she had the common sense to use her ability to know she was stepping into a battle zone. Ever since Naruto had given her the idea on how to control her power she had been practicing with it and after some experimentation she found out that she actually could close off her ability. Now she tried never to use it since she didn't want a repeat of the whole mob fiasco again; one experience was enough. They only way she could sense what people were doing now was when she was standing right next to them. Though there was no way she was going to try the whole reading mind thing again. The old medic had allowed her to keep her gloves and Sakura had never taken them off since. "Grandpa are you refusing to go to the hospital again." She demanded to know with her hands on her hips as she grazed angrily at the old man that had his back turned away from both of the woman.

"No way are you getting me in a hospital." The old man augured, sounding like a ten year old that wasn't allowed to have dessert if he didn't eat his vegetables.

"You will old man whether I'll have to drag you there or not." The older woman barked back at him and looked like she was serious as she stretched her fingers out in front of her. The old man had been complaining of chest problems a few days ago and she asked Naruto if his grandma would have a look at him because they seemed to be getting worse.

"Come on Granddad! It's only a check up." Sakura tried to convince him but the old man reminded rooted to his spot and shook his head furiously. "Baby!" She shouted at him not able to think of any other insult. However, it seemed to work as the man's frame suddenly went ridged. Like a cat against a chalk board, the man twisted on his seat towards her and gave her a deadly glare.

"What did you call me?" He growled at her. Oh she had defiantly hit a soft spot somewhere of that wrinkled frame of his. A devilish smile grew on her face as she knew exactly how she was going to get him to move. This was going to be good.

"Baby." She teased and then began dancing around the room, continuously singing the same word over and over again. Every time she passed him, she saw his face grow madder and madder.

"That's it!" He suddenly shouted out when his nerved reached over drive and he was soon on his feet. "Baby, oh I'll show you who's the baby." The man muttered as he marched out of the room. It wasn't until he was out of the room that she gave the old woman a thumbs up and she replied with a mock salute before following her old teacher.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right on your own?" She asked before leaving the room he left the house.

"I'm sure; I have a lot of work around here to do, just take care of him all right." She answered just as her guardian was shouting for his old student to hurry up so they could get this over and down with.

Once they had gone, Sakura had begun completely her chores, dusting the shelves, mopping the floors and replacing the loose tiles on the roof. It almost looks brand new, she smiled to herself as she examined the outside view and gave it a firm nod, all she needed to do now was give the outside exterior a new paint jobs since the old stuff was peeling off or looked faint. Quickly she ran back inside and checked the time to see her grandfather would be coming back from the hospital in an hour or so and decided to make his favourite food to help getting out of the miserable mood he was bound to be in when he got home. Humming to herself as she did the work, she heated up the boiling water she started dicing the vegetables. With the view of the outside to keep her occupied while she worked. Suddenly, an alerting presence that stood right sent her sense into overdrive but was too quick to react as everything went black.


	9. Escape

A loud groan echoed from Sakura's mouth as she opened her eyes and prayed that this was not the place she had woken up to many times before but it was. The cell walls were sharp and rough that it was hard to lean your back on to something, the smell was overwhelm with death and there was no light except for the small gap at the bottom of the door. But at least she wasn't alone. A small movement wiggled by her stomach and she looked down to see the puppy she had adopted in this hell whole was starting to wake up; Tomi. Her pink hair lay loose around her small frame, since she needed to use the scarf as a bandaged for the large gash on her arm that had been left unattended. Not to mention to stop the bleeding from when the animal had its ear ripped off. The past few weeks had been a total nightmare. Once she regained conscience she found herself strapped to an interrogation chair and a sadistic man standing in front of her. They were asking her questions about Naruto's family. How many guards did the place have, what's their routine schedule or what was the layout of the whole perimeter? She didn't know how he knew but there was no way she would tell them. She didn't even know who they were; they didn't wear any headbands but seemed to be a bit more experience than just some random kidnappers. The only thing they had to identify them was a strange small badge on their shoulder. No matter how many times he punched, kicked or placed her under a genjutsu she would not tell him the information. All she did was bite on her tongue to stop giving him the pleasure of hearing her shout out in pain but it did not work all the time and sometimes she was ashamed to say that she might of accidently let him witness a tear or two. However, she knew that she could not last for much longer. That's why she had to escape. For the past few days, she had been using her ability to locate everyone and every turn in this whole maze system she was kept in. She was hidden in some large complex in the middle of a forest, where she had yet to discover but all she needed to worry about now was getting the hell out with Tomi alive. Today was that day. All she needed to do was waited for one last ingredient to fulfil her plan.

"Here's your grub kid." A crooked voice spoke as it shoved a plate full of what was meant to be food through the whole in the bottom of the door. She eyed it suspiciously and drew it closer, tossing food to the side since the stuff was wall of drugs and keeping. Even in his hungry state, Tomi refused to go anywhere near it and suffered silently with her as they listened to the stomach rumbled. It was a good thing there had been a crack in the ceiling because there was no way she would have been able to hack into the pipes for water. Grabbing the rock, she began to sharpen all the equipment that she now had at her disposal, she would have to rush this one, it would be time and soon.

The whole complex had a strict system that every person followed. It was something that the commander of the building had enforced among his soldiers and it was impressive. No one was a second late to their position, if they were they would be brutally beaten until they had learnt to have the system clocks burning in their head so they knew what the time was twenty four seven. It was very impressive but something they were so proud of was about to become their down fall. Sakura had the whole working system mapped out in her head and was ready to set her plan into motion. Three, two, one… She couldn't help by smile as she saw the boot of one of the guards walk past; perfect timing as usual.

"Excuse me! Is there supposed to be a bag of money in here!" Sakura called out to the man, of course there wasn't but she needed a way to get his attention and the other day he had been complaining about losing a whole bag loans he was supposed to pay back tomorrow. The tapping of feet echoing through the hallways suddenly stopped. A few seconds later she could hear him rustling back and could hear the keys turning in the door.

"Alright you brat! How did –"He didn't get to finish as his hands flung for his neck to stop the blood flowing out of the womb but it was already too late. The man dropped on to his knees and then feel face flat into the grimy floor. Sakura did not waste time as she pulled him into the cell and pulled the knife from his throat. Quickly she ransacked his body of anything she could get her hands on. Thankfully she found some smoke bombs and paper bombs (which she was very happy about) and nicked a few kunai from his pockets. The idea of stealing from a dead man made her stomach turn, so she only took what she needed and nothing more.

"Come on Tomi." She called out to the pup that was hiding in the corner. Knowing the coast was finally clear the animal ran up to her and jumped into her arms, nuzzling her with its head. Usually she would take time to appreciate the little gesture but she had a time limit and she had to keep moving. Calming herself she stretched her abilities to a ten metre perimeter, she wanted to make sure she wasn't going to bump into everyone and needed to keep it on a scale where she could keep track of everyone. Peeping around each corner just to be on safe side she checked every turn and twist, counting down the seconds until her time was up. Sneaking through the hall ways was the easy part, it was the actual getting out she was dreading, not because it involved killing or anything but because it was going to cause a lot of time and smell a lot. She also didn't want them following her which was why she was so happy that she came cross the paper bombs. Checking the whole place out she entered the man's bath room and dragging out one of the knives she had constructed into a type of screw driver, began work on the drains. It was either through the crowd front door where she would easily be spotted or through the underground drainage system. She wished she had a proper tool kit because this tool she made was completely crap. In the end with just some time to spare, she managed to unscrew the lid and peel it open. She had to jump back when the smell hit her sense full force. Yuck! Sakura thought as she grabbed her nose to stop the smell. Her brain almost explored. Having her ability switched on all the time and being around smelly objects was not the greatest idea. The whole experience almost knocked her unconscious.

"Hey you!" An angry voice shouted from behind her and she noticed that two men had walked into the room. Shit! She thought. The smell had over whelmed her so much because of her ability that she had been completely distracted and hadn't notice what was going on. The two men approached her and Tomi let out a dangerous growl. Slipping her free hand behind her back she pulled out one of the explosion tags and aimed it to the ceiling. They both laughed at her, thinking she had just performed a terrible shot but it hit the spot just like she hoped. The roof collapsed, crushing the men to death and partly ceiling the doors off. Knowing she had ran out of time she didn't think twice as she jumped into the sewage system.

When I get home I'm having a very long bath, Sakura cursed as her feet stomped through the mucky water. She tried not to think about it as she forced herself through the wells and tried not to scream every time she felt something graze her across the leg that was every thirty seconds. The effect the smell was still over whelming and forced herself to breathe through the mouth so she could deal with it a little better. She also hated the amount of noise she was making as she strolled along and making splashes, the sound she was making was bound to attract attention. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it, the walls were too slimy to stick to and she hadn't learned to walk on water yet. Stopping for just a few seconds, she calmed herself and sent her sense out just a little bit to see if anyone was close by but instantly regretted it and pulled it back in. Yuck! Thought and pushed herself onwards not liking the fact she was flying blind in this maze.

After what seemed like hours, she managed to find a tunnel that led to the service and took this opportunity to get out of the hell hole. With all her might she pushed the lid open and pulled herself to the surface. With great relief, Sakura was finally able to breathe in some fresh air. Though she hadn't been expecting the serenely around her. What's a sewage door doing in the middle of the wood? She wondered as Tomi jumped out of her arms and started sniffing the trees nearby. These trees are not anything I've ever near the village, she wondered as she stepped forward through the undergrowth in her bare feet so she could feel the rough surface under her feet. Unlike the thick bushy trees that surrounded the village these plants were skinny tall things that had barely any branches on them, except on the top which had large leaves hanging from them. Still had no idea where she was, she had never seen anything like these before. Closing the lid to the sewer and moving away from it she sent out her senses to see where she was. Just a few metres away she could sense a river, hopefully if she followed it she would be able to find a village or something where she could rest, find food and have a decent pair of shoes because whatever surface she was walking on was killing her feet.

"Come on Tomi!" She called out to her pet that was quick to follow her steps both made her way to the flowing water, which would hopefully lead her to some civilisation.

Come here fishy, fishy, fishy! Sakura teased as she stood in the pool with a whole colony of fish swimming around at her feet. In a flash, the pink haired girl dived and grabbed tightly on to one of the fish that was to slow to swim away. It tried wrestled from her grip and with his slimy scales made it hard to hold. But she was determined and held on to it long enough to toss it to the shore where Tomi jumped up and secure it with its teeth. That's enough, Sakura thought as she swam back to land and picking up the fish she had gathered and took it to the cave she had found along the mountain side. They had walked almost a whole day but now it was too dark to travel and was forced to make camp for the night. The other bad thing was Sakura didn't have much experience camping in the wildness and was relying on the knowledge she remembered from her grandfather or books she had read; fishing with her hands had been a lot harder then she expected. With a bunch of sticks she had been able to collect she was able to make a small fire and started cooking her own fish while Tomi ate his raw. For once in a long time, she ravage the sweet food and allowed it to fill her belly, it should be enough to keep her going another day.

Sakura knew they were there before she could open her eyes. Out of instinct her body reached for the weapons at her disposable, if she had been half a second quick she would have had a weapon to defend herself. However, as her hand reached for the kunai a large boot slammed hard down on to her hand, the cracking of bones could be heard echoing all over the cave. Sakura screamed. The pain was excruciating, she tried to pull her limb free from the force that held her but it only hurt even more.

"Hello Pinky!" The mercenary grinned at her as he placed more weight onto her arm, she was sure she held another bone crack but the only thing that her brain was focused on at the moment was the fire that burned through her flesh. Her eyes were blurry from the tears that fell down her cheeks. "Aw now don't be like that." The cold man hissed as he finally realised his foot and bent down next to her. Picking up her wounded arm, the man began stroking it slowly, like he was trying to treat it. Even though, Sakura couldn't see his face she knew actually who he was, he had been the man trying to get information out of her. She knew him by the name Touch and she did not like him one bit. Trying to control herself, she bit on to her bottom lip, feeling her mouth quiver and shake so violently that she pierced the cells of her pink lips accidently.

"Come on Touch, we have the girl now let's go!" His comrade spoke out somewhere in the distance but the man seemed to pay no attention to him.

"No, no, Pinky understands that I don't take nicely to runaways." Touch sneered and without any warning, pulled her arm out and twisted it. Sakura screamed as the bone was pulled out of its socket. Forced to bare pain was one thing but losing the ability to mobilise the limb was utter humiliation. The young girls shock violently as her body went into shock. She tried to focus all her energy into her other arm as she forced it to move. "It's a shame you had to run away from us little one, and I thought we were just starting to get along." He sighed, too focused on her to realise what her arm was moving towards. There was no way in hell that she would let him have her again; she would kill her first.

"What the hell!" The soldier in the distance cried out and suddenly, Sakura could hear the dangerous growl of Tomi, appearing somewhere from the shadows and attacking the other person. It was her only chance. Reaching she could reach for, she was pleased to grab a spare kunai she had placed on her other side. Widely, she swung her free arm around and stuck him. Where? She did not know, as she yanked the weapon back out, all that she knew it was enough to get the man to let go of her. Not wasting the opportunity, Sakura jumped to her feet and ran for the cave mouth. The other soldier was still busy trying to fend himself from the dog that he had not realised the commotion behind him. He let out a gasp of surprised as a small force slammed into his back knocking him over.

"Tomi come on!" She cried as she raced towards the woods, moving her useable one double time since she had lost the ability to move her other one and had to leaving it dangling loosely at her side.

"You can run but you can't hide Pinky!" Her tormentor shouted after her and she felt something stab her in the back of her neck as she dived into the wildness. The trees didn't give her much protection but it would be easier to hide in this region then on a flat plain. Dodging behind one of the trees, Sakura felt for the area she felt pain and yanked out a needle like object which had blue liquid dripping from it. Damn it! Sakura as she tucked the needle away into a pocket. Calming herself, she tried to sense where the man was so she could stay a step away from him but her head just felt too dizzy and heavy. I can't find him! She panicked. Something nipped her hard on the leg and she looked down to see the puppy have his teeth pressed lightly into her skin. The animal was right, she had to calm down.

"Thanks Tomi." She smiled, as she tore a long piece of cloth from her t-shirt and secure her limp arm into it. With that done, she quickly peeked back around the corner to see the close was clear before she began running again. With her ability in shutdown, she was forced to rely on her ears and eyes and wait for any signs that if anyone was approaching her, though with her feet making such loud thumps it was hard to tell over her own beats if there was someone else was close by. There was nothing she could do but run as fast as her body would allow. Thankfully, the pink haired girl was still able to access her charka, allowing her to speed past the large trees that surrounded her; her arm cradling in her in the slang she made and thumped lightly against her chest, if she didn't get medical aid for it soon she feared not being able to use it.

"I'm closing in on you Pinky, it's just a matter of time!" The haunting voice echo through the trees of the forest, the chill that hung of the edges of his words froze her whole body. Where did that come from? Sakura worried as she circled the whole area, hoping that she would see some figure that was in the distance – far, far away. But she saw nothing. Only the same grey trees against the dull back ground. There was no route, no sounds and it seemed like no help. Nevertheless, she ran. She forced herself to remember everyone that was waiting for her when she got home: Grandpa, Naruto, Hinata, Tsunade… All of their faces flashed through her mind. However, even though these imagines were helping her to move her feet it had been a big mistake. She was so focused on them that the people blinded her path therefore could not see the explosive tag that implanted right next to her foot. Seconds later, Sakura found herself flying through air. Surprisingly, she somehow managed not to bash into any of the trees but slammed straight into the Earth's surface. Every cell of her body protested when her body continuously bounce off and on the floor. Finally, she lost the momentum and her body dragged to a stop across the dirt. Tears pour down her face as she tried to get her muscles to move again. Finding some strength, the girl was barely able to drag herself up to a tree for cover. Tomi! Sakura panicked when she noticed her canine companion was missing. "Come here Pinky, like I said before you've got nowhere to hide." He laughed sinisterly and she suddenly realised that he was there, just a few steps in front of her. Slowly, she lifted her head and saw the disgusting smile that was plastered on the man's face. She lost, he won, it was end game.


	10. Nobody gets away from it

The man laughed with joy knowing that she was dead meat. The sound sent ripples of fear down her spine as she thought of the endless pain she would have to face when he took her back. All seemed loss. The energy that burned through her body was suddenly lost as she slumped back against the tree, not able to support her own body mass anymore. She felt so numb that she couldn't even feel the pain from her injuries anymore and prayed that Kami would give her a swift death to end her life now before it was mercilessly taken by the man that stood in front of her. At first the only sound she could hear was the man's empty laughter as her head slumped against the Earth's floor but as the blood rush in her ears began to cease she could hear something else; it sounded like… whimpering. Slowly, she lifted her eyes, so that she could see what was possibly making that noise. Tomi! She wanted to scream but found no energy to form the words with her tongue. Eyes wide, she witness the small pup limp its way over to her. The pup barked happily when he saw her and began limping faster towards her. However, his marched over to her stopped when the mad shinobi kicked the pup in the stomach and sent him flying into another tree nearby.

"Tomi!" She screamed in fear and her heart twisted with pain when she heard the muffled sounds of pain howling from where the puppy lay unmoving.

"I see you and that crazy little pup teamed up together." The crazy ninja quarrelled as he dragged a kunai from out of his pocket. "Let's finish him off while we're at it as well." He screeched and threw the weapon at the animal. With a new burst of energy, Sakura forced herself on to her feet faster than a flash of lightning and in a split second was in front of the puppy; taking the sharp weapon in the shoulder. Blood poured down her side as she ripped the piece of metal out and held it in front of her.

"No one hurts Tomi and gets away from it!" She hissed dangerously but the man did not take this situation as threatening at all. The man had a crazed look in his eyes that spooked her a little but she still kept her defensive position strong, despite the trembling in her legs almost making it impossible to stand. No wonder they gave this man the sick, twisted crazy job? Sakura thought as the man continued laughing his head off. Right now all she wanted to do was tackle him right now and end all this but with her leg and arm out of commination, it would take her five minutes to travel half the distance before he finally notice what was happening and attacked her again. But she knew she had to do something, Tomi had stopped whimpering and she didn't dare look behind her incase he saw her look away from him and took it as an weakness to knock her out for good.

"You really think that you can stop me just because you have that little weapon in your hand." He spat at her, his saliva hitting her on the cheek but she did not even wince from her position, though she didn't like the feeling of his drool sliding down her face. "Think you're so big well I'll teach you how to be a grown up." He snapped and flipping his own kunai in his hand launched towards her. She braced herself, knowing this impact was going to make or break her for good. The man's crazed eyes popped out of his head as he brought his weapon down to clash with hers. Metal fought against metal as they clang their knives together. Sakura's wounded leg buckled under the strength and it knocked her to the floor but she was still able to hold her ground with her one leg. The man smirked when she saw she was barely holding on and forced more of his wait on her.

"You know why they placed you interrogations unit?" Sakura suddenly spoke out through all the effort. The man just looked at her like she was the mad one out of the two of them. "You're an annoying little brat." She hissed and she could feel the force behind his blade tense before he unleashed an untold force so forceful that his charka began flowing out of his body and burned the flesh off her arms. The girl hissed when she felt the power slash at her skin.

"I'll kill you!" He screamed as the force intensified. However, despite all the pain she was feeling Sakura couldn't help but smile; she was using his own techniques against him.

"You might think you're all big and superior but the only reason you're head of interrogations is because it was the only way to put you out of the way." The young girl continued to tease, feeling that she had him were she wanted him. That fact was… she had pushed him too far. Before she could take into account with what was happening, she was flying backwards and slammed her into a tree again.

"One has ever insulted me and ever got away with it!" The shinobi cursed as he flash towards her. Sakura could only watch in horror as she saw the monster raise his weapon at her, surrounded in a blue energy, tearing up plants and the ground as he raced towards her. It was then that she felt that everything change. Time slowed down, everything when silent and she could only see the crazed man running in her direction. The only thing she could feel was her own heart thumping hard against her chest. She could see his mouth open like he was roaring but the sound failed to reach her ears. Her body never move an inch. But something stopped him. The girl felt something crack above her head and whiz towards him. The weapon hit the man like a arrow hitting a bullseye. On impact, the impact was powerful enough to knock the man backwards. His feet wobbled as his hand clutched at the wound in his chest and staggered around, the next thing she knew a whole group of dogs leapt forward and sank the teeth's into his skin. Just as she thought things couldn't get any weird a tree started growing out of the ground and locked its branches around his body. The dogs moved away from him so they wouldn't get stuck as well. Suddenly, a hole appeared from above the tree and a woman appeared from it, holding a kunai to the man's throat.

"Got ya." She sneered and two other figures jumped from the direction of the woods behind her and her secured the man properly, allowing the tree to disappear and the woman to walk around freely. Sakura could not believe her eyes. She had to be dreaming because there was no way three Konohagakure shinobi (not to mention a whole pack of hunting dogs) had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and taken the man down in less than ten seconds. Yet here they were and she recognised two of them; it would be hard to forget the silver defying gravity hair the spiked up in all directions. He turned towards her, his one lone eye circling in on her. All she could do was just stared at him as he took in her appearance. With a quick examination, he turned away his lazy posture that she was use to was replaced by a stiff and aggressive statues.

"Kurenai! Attend Sakura and give her medical attention." Kakashi ordered the woman next to him, the little girl wasn't sure but she could have sworn she felt something in his voice that felt like he was using all his will power to control himself. The woman quickly nodded and made her way over to the pink haired girl, though before the woman could reach her, the woman flinched back quickly when something tried to bite her fingers off.

"No Tomi!" Sakura commanded, using her good arm to scoop the puppy up and place her on her lap, trying to calm him by stroking his head. Even though she should have disciplined him before nearly biting the woman's hand off but she just didn't have it in her heart. In fact she was too happy that her pet was alive and well to worry so much. After she was able to calm the dog down, the kunochi finally approached her and gave her a check over.

"I need to put your arm back into your socket but it's going to really hurt." The woman warned but Sakura knew from lessons that she had from her grandfather that if the arm wasn't placed back into its original place soon then she could risk losing the ability of her arm. With a firm nod, the girl braced herself as the woman secure the bandaged arm and shove it back into place; it hurt more than actually dislocating it. The scream was muffled by forcing her mouth to stay together and slamming her eyes shut so tears wouldn't be seen. As soon as she was able to control herself, she relaxed and moved the shoulder around just to make sure there was nothing wrong with it. "Feel better?" The woman asked and at this point Sakura finally took a good look at her. The female ninja was very beautiful, with smooth creamy skin, surrounded by raven curls portraying her round face and red eyes that were very enchanting. Smiling she nodded happily in return, it felt good to be able to control a part of her body again. The woman named Kurenai seemed pleased by this improvement and started attending to her other cuts in bruises, old and new.

"You wouldn't get away from this!" The enemy cried out but his outburst was cut short when the other ninja on the team slammed a foot into the man's back.

"Shut up!" The other shinobi ordered, lighting a cigarette in the process and taking a deep puff from it. It was only then did she recognise the man to be Asuma Sarutobi, who she had met at Naruto's party. "I really think it's you who should be worried about your own skin not ours." He smirked before turning his attention back on Sakura and giving her a friendly smile. "How you holding up kid?" He asked in a sincere voice.

"Okay I suppose, feel a little bruised here and there but I'll survive." She shrugged and gave him a warm smile back.

"Kurenai take Sakura back to camp, I and Asuma will sought out our new friend." The leader of the small unit commanded as he pulled his headband up to reveal a blood red eye. His two team mates seemed shocked as did Sakura, since she was sure she heard something… scary in Kakashi's voice. Nevertheless, the woman did what she was told and picking the child up into her arms while the pink haired girl held the puppy in her arms. The girl didn't know what to do and clung on to the woman as they set off. However, no matter how far they travelled, she couldn't block the sound of screaming.

Sakura's whole body felt all bruised and torn with all the energy zapped out of her that she was not surprise to wake up in bizarre surroundings, sleeping in a moving caravan with a blanket over her. It took some time for her eyes to open properly since she was facing the sunlight that blinded her vision and had to blink a few times before her pupils could adjust to the outside world properly and see without the feeling of her eyes being burnt out of her sockets. The material that covered her was plain and soft, keeping her so warm that in this week it made her feel like she was melting and by her feet slept her faithful companion. Sitting up the covers fell off her body to reveal bandages covering all her wounds and her arm placed into a proper sling. Thankfully, the ugly black bruises she had were starting to fade to a bluish yellow.

"You've been asleep for two days." A calm voice stated from somewhere. Looking the girl saw the copy ninja sitting at the entrance of the transport with on leg dangling out of it and the other balancing his forbidden adult book on the other. Slowly she got up and inspected the place, by the look and sounds of it they seemed to be on the train. A familiar smell of cooked meat caught her nose and she looked down to see a plate full of sausages and scrambled egg was being thrust under her nose. "Eat you need to get back your strength back." He ordered which Sakura was happy to except it since her stomach just remained her that she had not eaten properly in days. During this time as she regained her energy she tested herself to see if she was a hundred per cent back to normal. Yep, defiantly back to my crazy self! She was happy to admit when she practice using her abilities to find out they had returned, whatever she had been poisoned with had defiantly worn off now.

"Why are we on a train?" She inquired just as she was finishing off the last of her food. The man never moved his face from the book as he explained everything to her.

"We reported back to Tsunade about your injuries and she thought the rush of use carrying you would only make you worse and uncomfortable, this is the fastest way of getting you back of the village which takes less than a three day journey." He flicked over another page. Sakura couldn't help but wonder how a man that had a mask over his mouth and a book in front of his face was able to speak so clearly. In the end she just shrugged it off as a shinobi thing.

"What happened … the day that I was taken?" Sakura quietly asked, since she wanted to know how everyone was. At this requested the man peeked out of his book, making eye connect with her for the first time. Studying her for a few moments, he finally put the book down all together and patted the pace next to him for her to come and sit. Shuffling herself over to him, she made herself comfortable as she waited for an explanation.

"A large shinobi force from the land of grass had been ordered to attack the northern gate of the village. Most forces had been drawn over to refortify the barrier." Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing, a whole war had been going on and she not even realised. Though it was possible that she might have missed it, being closer to the south gate and placed of in a secluded area would have made it difficult for news to reach her but still, you think living in a shinobi village would make people more prepared for these types of things. Through her busy thoughts, Kakashi continued. "There weren't many casualties on our side and the enemy were quick to retreat but the Hokage couldn't but sense something was up and ordered a firm such over the village, naturally being in the mists of the battle Naruto wanted to see if all of his friends were all right –" The silver haired man was cut off by Sakura's gasp. Naruto! In the middle of a battle, but he could of gotten seriously hurt, he wasn't trained to fight in a full on battle.

"Was he okay, he didn't get seriously hurt right?" Sakura demanded to know in her panic state, completely forgetting about the situation they were supposed to be talking about. A huge lump gather into her throat, she worried about her friend and his stupidity to care more about his friends and not himself first; though in the back of her mind she knew she would of the done the same thing. Despite wearing a mask, you could see a smile appear under the mask, one that was very proud.

"He's fine and you should have seen him, you could not imagine the looks on our faces when he jumped into battle and took down men twice his senior, although he's worried about you and your safety." He answered and she could not help but breathe a sigh of a relief. Yes she was very proud of his bravery and she wished there was a way she could comfort him in his time of need. "Like I was saying, we arrived at your house to find it completely empty and the pot over boiling and we knew something was wrong. After reporting back to the Hokage we set out instantly, though it was impossible to track you as a result of the bad weather which kept wiping away your scent." He stopped to allow Sakura take in the information.

"So everyone's okay right, Grandpa, Hinata… everyone?" Sakura inquired, totally missing what was hidden underneath the sentence that Kakashi was trying to point out to her. The man forced a smile on his face and nodded. The young girl sighed in relief to hear that everyone was all right and the thought of seeing them soon brighten up her day immensely.

The day passed on and the team of ninja's that had come to save Sakura took turns entertaining her, resting and checking the train for any enemies that could be hiding aboard. They were almost home now, except for a day's walk from the train station to the village itself but that was fine with Sakura, she needed to walk on some solid earth except being forced to sit down and rest all the time. She hated it and she also didn't like the fact that her leg would jerk out every now and again because of no activity; it was very frustrating.

"You suck at this game Asuma." She commented as she moved one of her generals forward on the board, capturing the opposing king in the process and Tomi barking in agreement. This guy was supposed to be an experience ninja who was use to planning battle plans and thinking on the spot to overcome issues but this guy was getting his butt kicked at shogi by a ten year old. She heard him mutter something about kids being too smart for their own age and let out a puff of smoke, as he set up the board again. Even though Sakura liked playing the game they had already played it at least ten times already maybe even more. Suddenly the train came to a complete stop. Asuma was alert and Sakura was using her sense to see if she could feel anything wrong in the area. Suddenly, the door to their compartment opened and Kurenai popped her head in.

"Come on kiddies we've reached our stop." She smiled and quickly ducked back out so her partner couldn't argue with her statement.

"Last one out's a rotten egg." The pink haired girl cried out as she jumped to her feet and raced out of her the room, happy to finally be off this hell hole. With a great leap she dived out of the carriage were she saw the other two waiting for them and landed gracefully on the floor. She took in a deep breath so she could feel her lungs with the scent of her familiar surroundings. It wasn't home but it sure was close.

When day became night the company was force to set up camp as Sakura soon became tired. After a small meal, everyone was getting prepared for bed but Sakura wanted to do one last thing before she went to bed.

"What are you doing?" Kunenai asked when she caught Sakura by the river when she was supposed to be in her sleeping bag.

"Nothing." Sakura quickly muttered out and hid the kunai she was using behind her back though it was clear that she couldn't hide what she had been doing. Half of hair was flowing over her shoulders while the other side of her head was on the ground.

"You're cutting your hair?" The kunochi asked as she came and settled next to her. It was clear that there was no need to conceal the knife behind her back.

"Yeah, I've decided I'm fed up with hiding it beneath a scarf any more but I sure as hell don't want to waste my life brushing it every day." She shrugged and attempted to cut unevenly at the other half of her hair. The woman only laughed and with a flash of her hands nicked the metal object out of her hands.

"Come here I'll do it." She offered, rapidly Sakura shuffled over to the woman who became to neaten up her hair.


	11. Arriving Back Home

Finally! Sakura cheered in joy as she ran towards the red gates of the village with her faithful companion, Tomi close behind her, running faster than the wind down the oath as the group of ninja that had been sent to rescue the small child (plus her adoptive puppy as a bonus) laughed at her enthusiasm. The large red gate was a happy sight to see but it would have been better if she could see the village and its people inside the walls. However, it didn't matter how fast she ran, the pink haired child still had to wait for the shinobi to trade security documents and passports with the guards that were based outside the village walls. Come on, come on, COME ON! Sakura cursed as she jumped from foot to the other foot so she could be with the people she wanted to be with. The puppy was enjoying himself with the time he had taking in his new surroundings, sniffing every corner of the place and even left a territory mark on one of the trees; he had already started making the area his own. Painfully, the girl was forced to watch as ninja traded papers and get them signed off. Sakura was doing her best to keep her frustration at bay but it was getting harder to keep her inner demon under control in this situation. After two minutes of waiting she couldn't take any more of the agony.

"Oh come on! How much paperwork does it take to walk through a stupid gate?" The girl cried out and Tomi barked in agreement, obviously bored of these surroundings and determined to explore the rest of his new home on the other side of the world also.

"About this much." The security guard answered, bending down behind his table for a few seconds to reappear once again with a huge stack of paper work that looked like it could touch the sky. Seeing the mountain of paper, Sakura fainted in frustration. She just had to ask didn't she? Well that's typical; Sakura swore as she unearthed a pretty white flower from the dirty ground and study it. In fact she was actually surprised it had been left there for so long without being squashed but other travellers or traders. Odd? She wondered, shrugging to herself as she placed the long tangled roots back where they came from. In her distraction she had not notice the ninja group together and had been speaking in hush tones. When she did finally notice their discreet behaviour she debated with herself whether to use her abilities on them or not. In the end she didn't. During her absence from the village and stuck in the small dark prison she discovered how useful her ability was. Even though she didn't like using it she decided it was stupid to deny it and was going to lay down some ground rules for herself so that it didn't go entirely to waste. Sitting up she grabbed a stick from a nearby hedge and began drawing pictures into the dirt. It was the only thing to pass the time. Soon enough, Tomi came to join her, clearly bored out of his mind and wanted some attention from his mistress. The sun hit her hard on her skin despite the fact it was supposed to be winter weather. Sighing, she wiped the small beads of hot sweat that dripped down her face. Suddenly feeling a bit tired her eye lids dropped together as they felt too heavy to waste trying to keep open. Her hand continued to draw whatever image she had popping into her head. It was a very strange picture and immediately her eyes flew open again she watched the stick trace across the dirt, embedding the image on to the ground. For a moment, she was thankful for the shade that was suddenly blocking out the sun before she realised it wasn't right because she had not seen a single cloud in the sky when she had been laying on her back. Opening her eyes, Sakura looked up to see that Kakashi was standing over her.

"Come on. I'm taking you to the hospital." He announced his features plain and lazy like. Getting on to his paws first, Tomi was the first one to follow the order and shuffled over to the man and moaned for a pat. In response the man bent down and scratched between his ears (where the other ear she of been anyway) Sakura had sense the man was a dog person by the way he treated the puppy, not to mention he had his own pack of hunting dogs to care for.

"Why do I have to go to the hospital?" She asked a little confused, she really wasn't in the mood to go through a million tests; her wounds had been treated, what more could they do? The man only tilted his head and shrugged as if he was saying 'because I have to that's why' though it was impossible to be certain with anything the man said or did. Possibly Lady Tsunade is behind it? She wondered to herself when she thought through the situation, since she knew the woman was a medic and probably insisted that she would be brought for a check-up.

"Come on we haven't got all… day." The pause was quick and to some people would have been barely recognised it had actually happened. In fact she properly would not have noticed if she had not seen his one eye enlarging with surprise at the same time as the sudden pause which disappeared in a blink. Following his direction she noticed he was looking at the illustration on the ground. If it weren't for his long slender finger tracing the outlines she would not of thought he was curious.

"What's the matter?" She questioned the older man which caused the finger that was following the odd outlines to freeze. Looking back up, he only tilted his head and smiled at her.

"Nothing, just admiring the doodle." He answered politely. Even though she found it strange she let it go, reminding herself she really didn't know the silver haired man well enough to know his interests in art. Without any more arguments the man swiped them both up, Sakura in one arm and the puppy in the other. Somehow, he was still able to perform hand seals and before the young girl could take in what was going on they disappeared, leaving behind a trail of grey smoke.

At first, Sakura wasn't sure where she was. Her whole mind she felt dizzy and everything around her blurred together into a glowing white. Shaking her head, she was able to regain just enough eye sight to make out the lines of Konohagakure's hospital waiting room. Everyone around them was giving them odd expressions. Kakashi gently placed her on the floor, keeping a study hand on her shoulder so she didn't fall over. Tomi was still under his other his arm, wiggling around so he could take the new sterile smells from around the hospital but the silver hair ninja refused to let him go. Soon Sakura was able to regain her eyesight just in time to see Tsunade and her assistant approach. The old medic tried to remain calm but there was something in the woman's face that looked like she was worried about something. The woman came to a complete stop when she took in the colour of the girl's hair. The expression looked like she had just seen a ghost. But as soon as the face was there it disappeared with a quick whip of the hair.

"How are you doing sweetie?" The woman smiled as she crouched down in front of Sakura so they were on the same eye level. Despite the woman trying to be nice, the pink haired girl was not use to seeing this sensitive side and decided she found the bad temper woman much more comfortable then this appearance the woman was showing. Oh well, I must be special if she's trying to be nice? Sakura could help but smile at the silly thought.

"If I say I'm in a lot of pain do I get ice-cream?" Sakura beamed with Tomi barking in agreement, she was kind of hungry and having some ice cream to feel the gap in her stomach would be nice, especially since she hadn't had the treat in such a long time. To her amazement the head medic just laughed and gave her a quick hug.

"You can have as much ice-cream as you want." Tsunade responded after she let the young girl go and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. Score! Sakura cheered inside her head. I wonder if they have strawberry flavour? The very thought of the delicious food made her mouth water and she licked her top lip in anticipation. "Come on, let's get you checked up." The doctor offered and steered her into the direction of the hallway. The word 'check-up' sent bells ringing in Sakura's head as she remembered something important.

"Oh Kakashi, can you go and tell grandpa I'm back and I'll see him at home soon." She called to the copy-nin over her shoulder and the man saluted to say the message had been received. Suddenly, the two of them came to a complete stop. Sakura wasn't sure what just happened, the calm confident woman suddenly disappeared into a sad but stern look. For the second time in the last five minutes the old woman crouched down so they were eye level with each other once again but this time the doctor took her small hands into hers.

"Sakura, when you were away, your grandfather suffered a lot of stress and it was too much for a man his age to handle, he suffered a heart attack." She stopped for just a second to check if Sakura was still following what she was trying to say. All the girl did was blink and stare at the woman. "We did all we could but in the end we lost him." Sakura's expression changed drastically into horror. No! No this can't be right! A million thoughts zoomed through her head that were similar to that one. This can't be right! Kakashi told me- Everything in her body stopped functioning for a second as she processed the thought through her head. Suddenly, she sprung around towards a stunned looking ninja, anger burned inside her body like a volcano about to erupt.

"You told me he was okay!" She screamed at him, pointing at him in an accusing finger at him. "You lied, you're a liar!" Furious tears dripped down her cheeks as she ran over to him in a blind fury and started hitting him forcefully on his padded chest. The jonin could nothing but just stare at what was going on in the amount of shock that had placed his body into shut down. The girl didn't really care whether he was going to defend herself or not, someone needed to pay and so far, the man in front of her was provided himself as the perfect punch bag. Suddenly, she felt a slight pressure on her neck and the next thing she knew she passed out. Just before she hit the floor Kakashi caught her in him arms and lifted her up against his chest.

"Take care of her." He whispered as he handed the small person over to the head medic and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Waking up, Sakura found herself in a proper hospital room. She didn't understand why she suddenly woke up, her whole body felt exhausted and totally dehydrated. Pushing herself up, she saw that there was a glass and a jug of water by her bed. Hurriedly, she poured the liquid into the cup and gulped the whole thing down. She regretted it later when she began coughing most of it up again but interestedly her throat did feel better. Once again, she sank back into the pillows of the bed. Hundreds of dreaded emotions weighed like she had a stone in her stomach: Anger, sadness and guilt, all of the emotions sucked the little energy she had out of her body. Slowly, she could feel herself falling deeper and deeper into depression and she could not find the power to stop it. No matter what she tried her mind was haunted by horrible thoughts but it was the worse when she closed her eyes and terrifying pictures appeared making her afraid to go to sleep. But soon she found that her eye lids were too heavy to keep open and soon she found herself falling asleep once again.

When she woke up she began screaming, her whole body shook with fear as her earth shattering voice pierced through the quietness of the hospital. What she hadn't realised was that her room had people surrounding her bed. She continued yelling her head off, even when she felt someone embracing her and trying to calm her down. She fought back, thinking that it was the man in her dream that was coming to get her. In the end someone else grabbed her arms while someone took her legs and held her down, Sakura thrashed and kicked at the restraints but whoever was holding her down was too strong. Suddenly, she felt something pierce into the skin of her throat and a cool liquid entered into her blood. As soon as the needle was taken out of her skin, she felt herself calm down instantly. Once her breathing calm she opened her eyes to see Tusnade, The Hokage and Jiraiya looking over her with worried expressions on their faces. Staring at them, she could only blink at them a few times, waiting for the heaviness in her forehead to disappear before she shifted herself up into a sitting position. Man why did I have to have such a giant forehead? Sakura whined as she found it hard to control the weight of her head properly. Tsunade had to help her sit up against the pillows so that she didn't fall off the side of the bed. Whatever she had been given might have calmed her down but it made it hard to concentrate properly. During her daze, the doctor preformed a quick check up on her arm and on her other cuts and bruises. After a while, the medication began to fade and she could sit by herself without the support of another person.

"How do you feel honey?" The medic asked with a gentle smile on her face. Do I really have to answer that question? Sakura thought bitterly to herself but didn't dare confess what her true feelings out loud to these people.

"Okay I guess." Sakura shrugged but in real life she felt like a huge chunk of her heart had been ripped out and that there was a giant gap. She saw everyone look at her with concerned looks on their faces, obviously not buying what she was saying.

"Well there are some people that are here to see you." Tsunade smiled and right on cue, the sound of Naruto's loud voice boomed through the hallways of the hospital with his mother's following just as loudly behind.

"Naruto this is a hospital, show some respect!" Kushina's voice boomed and everyone in the room could feel large sweat drops drip down the side of their face. Soon the door blew open with a loud thud and their stood Naruto and his mother in the doorway with beaming smiles on the faces and carrying a beautiful bunch of flowers. The small blonde ran towards her and placed the flowers in a vase on the table.

"Hey Sakura, everyone brought flowers to help brighten up the room." He smiled and all at once a whole trail of people came into the room carrying more flowers. Kushina had the whole Hyuga family follow in after her, along with Sarutobi and Kurenai. Sakura was happy to see them all but couldn't help but notice there was someone was missing and she was pretty sure it was a special person with silver hair. Hopefully if he ever talked to her again she would be able to say sorry but right now, she had no choice but to smile and laugh at the blonde and the small heiress as they talked about the latest prank that he had pulled on Sasuke, he had made sure it was pink dye that soaked him in honour of her return to Konoha (though Sakura found it strange that he knew that she had pink hair even though she had never shown it to him) a part of her still felt sad but the gap in her heart was not as big as she felt earlier.


	12. Stuck in the Hospital

It was a good day for the hidden leaf village, the first of December meant that Christmas was not far away. Children were scanning the shops looking for presents they wanted for the holiday and shop owners were putting out decorations and sale signs. But for a small group of people it was a chance to say good bye. Since Sakura didn't have much money, the Hokage had offered to pay for the funerals expense. Sakura had commented now and again that she would pay him back once she had gotten herself back on her feet. But right now, she was here to pay respects to her beloved grandfather. The priest said some comforting words but it did little to drown the dreaded feeling in stomach. To her left stood Tsunade and to her right were Naruto and Hinata. Everyone else stood in the back ground their heads bowed in respect. The people that knew him well made little speeches about what a good friend and teacher he was. When it came to Sakura's turn, she found it difficult to stop the shaking of her hands as she tried to look at the piece of paper with her speech on it. Looking back up she could see everyone eyes on her and it made her more nervous, it was only when her eyes reach Naruto encouraging smile that she took a deep breath and told the whole truth about her grandfather.

"Akio found me when I was four years old." I began, hearing a few gasps of shock since she had never really told anyone that she was his adoptive granddaughter, though she knew some of the people that truly knew him would have figured it out. "For some reason he saw something in me and took me in, teaching me everything he knew about the ninja world and how to survive in it. But he was more than just my teacher and guardian, he was my best friend and together we somehow managed to sew up the old wounds left between us. In the end…" Her throat suddenly closed up as she could feel the tears swell up in her eyes but forced herself to continue. "In the end it didn't matter that we weren't blood related, we were a family and that was all that mattered and I won't ever forget him." Finally she finished just in time before she found it impossible to hold back the tears. All she could do was lean into Naruto's arm as she stirred her away.

The morning was a beautiful site to wake up to. The sky was a pretty silver, the winter trees full with purple-green leaves and frost hung around the edges building's rooftops, making them sparkle a little every time a bit of light reflected on them. Even though it was winter Konohagakure, Sakura was desperate to get outside and stretch her legs. Over a week in the hospital and the only time she had been allowed out was to attend her grandfather's funeral and that had not been a very happy day for her. Another that bothered her was that as soon as she was realised from the hospital she had nowhere to go. Her grandfather was only someone who had taken her in when she had lost everything before. The Hokage had said that social workers were looking for a good home to put her in but the young girl could only twist her face in disgust. She didn't like social workers; they were not to be trusted. Not to mention she missed Tomi but she heard Kakashi was nursing him back to health, making Sakura feel even more guilty about blaming him and swore she would make it up to the copy nin when she had the chance. Tsunade wouldn't mind if I just took a little time outside, Sakura mischievous thought to herself as she jumped off the bed and proceeded to the window. Carefully, she peeled the window open and placed one foot outside.

"What do you think you're doing?" A familiar voice snapped and Sakura froze like a deer caught in headlights. Turning her head slightly she could see Tsunade in the door way with her eyebrows narrows at her and Shizune standing behind her with her pet pig in the back ground. She had been caught red handed… again!

"Nothing." Sakura replied innocently and jumped down off the side. The girl could see the old woman's tight mouth turn slightly as she tried to withhold back her laughter.

"Well it looked like you were trying to sneak outside again." The doctor retorted and the pink haired girl could feel her head flop in the sudden loss of strength. In all fairness, Sakura couldn't see why she wasn't allowed out. Her worse injuries had be mended ages ago from the amount of deep sleep and work Tsunade had placed in on her behalf. Sighing to herself, the young girl guessed she wouldn't be able to get out so soon. Either the woman was watching her like a hawk or there was a secret security system in place that stopped ninja's from sneaking out of the hospital because not matter what time or day it was the slug queen always seemed to know when she was trying to climb out the window.

"Please, please can I just go outside for a few minutes, I promise to be good and eat all the terrible hospital food without complaint." Sakura begged as she literally got on her knees in front of the old woman and tried to muster up the best puppy look. Nevertheless, the woman only shook her head. In defeat, the pink haired girl collapsed on to the floor. "But I'm so bored." The lone whine echoed around the room.

"I'm sure there's some way you can managed to entertain yourself." The doctor stated and the girl's only reply was a miserable pout. If I had been able to I wouldn't be in this situation, Sakura wanted to say out loud but knew that the woman's temper was something no one wanted to mess with.

Bored, bored, bored! Sakura moaned two hours later as she was left alone to suffer in her loneliness and was sick of it. Staring at the clock it would be another four hours before Naruto and Hinata came to visit her and that was just torture. The only thing that was loud enough to interrupt her thoughts was the rumble of her hungry stomach. The sound was nothing but a boring nuisance and it would not disappear for at least another hour when a nurse would come with her lunch. It better not be a turkey sandwich again! Sakura thought and had to make a sick noise at the very thought. She didn't care what they call it she had never seen a cooked turkey with a greenish colour to it before. It annoyed her that she couldn't go and spend some time in the fresh air but as she dwelled on the thought, her brain began to formulate a plan. The woman didn't say anything about exploring the hospital, she snickered. Letting my senses go, I began to search the hospital. Perfect! I smiled as I realised Tsunade was in surgery and there was barely anyone walking through the halls. Without a moment's hesitation jumped out of bed again and ran to the door.

It had not been difficult to reach the food centre without bumping into anyone. The people that she did see coming to the halls were either too busy reading through their charts or in too much of a rush to notice a ten year old girl in pyjamas walking aimlessly through the halls. Plus, she didn't even need her skill to find were the canteen was. She just had to follow the smell of cooked food that littered itself among the air of the hallways. The girl wasn't afraid to grab a tray and snatch every single decent looking thing off the side. No one was here, not even a member of staff. Placing herself at a table, Sakura began to greedily eat all the jelly anyone could imagine, it seemed to be the only good thing in this place apart from the ice-cream but there had been none for her to take. But as she was half way through one plate of food, her sense caught on to a cold, isolated figure approaching her direction. Sakura panicked. She didn't what to do! If it had been anyone else then she would have just ignored them and continued eating but there was something about this person that was so dark that it frightened her to the core. Not to mention she didn't have long to make a decision as the figure was soon in the same room as her. The man was tall and held a good posture even though he was walking with a cane and had bandages down his left arm and eye. There was nothing in his hard expression that showed any emotion either then complete seriousness, even when he turned and looked at her, he made no surprise expressions or any recognition that she was there at all. They stared at each other for a long time, Sakura wasn't sure if it had anything with just plain curiosity or paralysis by fear.

"What a unique colour?" The man stated and Sakura knew it didn't take a genius to work out that he was talking about her hair. It was usually the first thing people use to say about her when she was little until she learned to cover it up. Now she just felt stuck in a situation she could not control and she did not like it one bit. Her mind was stuck with what to do and tried to think quickly of something to do or say back.

"Depends on how many shades of colour you've seen before of it." Sakura answered and suddenly had the urge to bash her head on the table. She properly would have done it if the man was not standing in the room. Slowly, he made his way over to her. The cane tapped across the marble loudly with every step that was taken, the sound painfully grinding against the surface of her ear drum as he got closer and closer.

"May I sit?" He inquired politely, gesturing a hand towards the empty seat opposite her. Not knowing what to do she nodded. Surprisingly, the man had a strange grace about him as he sat himself done. "What's your name child?" It was simple harmless question but Sakura could not help but feel afraid to give it to him.

"What's yours?" She replied, giving her a few seconds to direct the question in a different direction for the time being. The old man stared at her for a few seconds, as if he was thinking it over.

"Danzo." He answered and held his good hand out to her to shake.

"Sakura." She answered, using her gloved hand to shake his. Despite everything that she had been through, Sakura had not lost the black leather gloves Tsunade had given her and at this moment was to still have time as she clutched his hand firmly. Yet despite everything, for the few seconds their hands were connected, something invisible wrapped itself around her arm; cutting off the circulation in her arm. Still, Sakura did not want to show any sign of weakness furthermore forced herself to keep the connection until he let her hand go. At that moment a nurse came stumbling into the room.

"Miss, the doctor has given you strict instructions not to leave… oh sorry sir I didn't see you there." The bubbling nurse bowed politely to the old man.

"The child is quite safe with me, you can tell the doctor that I am sitting with her and that I would like to enjoy her company a little more." Danzo ordered the nurse and without a second's indecision, left once again. "So child, what are you doing here?" The man asked and Sakura tried to find some other answer to give him, since she feared the truth would make some unseen consequences.

"I… fell out of a tree and broke my arm." She mumbled under her breath and tried to look anywhere but at him. If there was one thing that Sakura knew about herself is that she was good at spotting lairs but she was a terrible one herself.

"You don't have a cast or anything on." The man was quick to point out.

"I got it taken off today." She replied knocking the accusation out of the air swiftly as it had came. Yet the man still looked unconvinced. With speed she had never imagined the man lashed out and gripped her wrist and yanked it across the table painfully.

"You're mother had been a terrible liar to." He hissed and for the first time since they had met, Sakura saw the imprint of evil on his face. At that moment she lost control, her mind scanning the area for help. Thankfully, she was luckily as she could feel a force marching in this direction but they weren't moving fast enough. Out of instinct she went for the two minds she felt the strongest, prodding them and yelling at them to hurry up. It worked. She was able to sense them all beginning to rush but her concentration was soon broken when the grip tighten around her wrist. Fighting back she tried to pulled her arm away but for and old, injured man he had an iron grip.

"Let me go!" She demanded with all her might as she clawed at his skin and twisted her hand to try and slip out but it only hurt her more. The invisible snake curled up her arm again but this time with a new force; it was like she was having the life sucked out of her. Tears dripped out of her eyes. "LET ME GO!" Crying out with such rage as she continued to pull and wiggle her hand, forcing charka down her arms as she prayed for a miracle. But like the other times she had prayed, this one was actually answered. With one last go she was able to wrench her arm free. Taking light of the situation, she ran for the door with the speed all her feet could muster and sprinted for the door. But before she could reach it the double doors blow open and two small brown creatures dashed in followed by a silver haired man.

"Sakura!" He cried out in a mixture of panic and relief as she dived towards him and threw herself into his arms, burying her head into his neck as she tried to suppress the tears. The two dogs stood the growl as they snarled at Danzo, though the man himself seem unaffected by this. She couldn't see what was happening but she could sense the two men having a staring contest, a silent conversation passed between them. It was then that she could hear the sound of Tsunade's heels clicked against the floor. Danzo left before she reached them.

Sakura held on to Kakashi with all her might as he carried her back to her room. Tears wouldn't stop cradling her face cheeks and she continued to sob into shoulder. It wasn't the whole Danzo incident that had got her so caught up but the fact that he came. Even after all the horrible stuff she had said to him, he had come to her aid. She had never felt so crappy in her life. Even when he tried to put her back on her bed she refused to let go, so the man had to untangle his arms from around her neck and before Sakura had a chance to get a hold of him again, the ninja tossed Tomi into her hands, who seemed more than happy to have all of his mistresses attention.

"Tomi!" She squealed in delight as the pup covered her in dog kisses and thumped her chest hard with his energetic tail. Wrapping the animal into the embrace of her arms, Sakura sank down on to the bed and tried to disappear; sadly with no success.

"What the hell happened back there?" Tsunade demanded to know from Kakashi, though she doubted whether the silver coloured man would be able to give the old medic a proper answer.

"Danzo." Was all he said in a low toned voice, in that instant it seemed that the doctor understood him one hundred percent. Suddenly, all eyes turned to her and Sakura felt the need to turn invisible.

"Did he hurt you?" The doctor asked kindly. Only my pride and my wrist, the ten year old thought to herself, instinctively reaching for the sleeve of the t-shirt and pulled it down to cover up any bare skin; not daring to look and see if any mark had been left. However, the woman was not a well-known ninja for nothing and was quick to grab the arm. Gently, Tsunade pulled the sleeve back to reveal a section of her creamy skin and turned a dark purple in addition to it seeming to grow larger by the second. Sakura could tell that the doctor was angry. Even though the woman made no sudden outburst or moved a single fragment of her face, it was all of these non-aggressive acts that the young girl knew that the woman was harbouring some kind of killing rage inside. Expertly, Tsunade healed the bruise away to give no notification that something had ever existed. It was only when the adults and Pakkun left the room again did she hear something smash against the wall.

With another deep sigh, Sakura packed her belongs that she kept around the hospital into a bag. Tomi assisted by dragging pieces of clothes or other items over to her while she folded them up and placed them in the bag. She had been informed that her belongings (not like there was much in the first place) had already been moved from her old home into the new bedroom of the family that the fostering agency had tracked down to keep her. In all honesty, Sakura was not looking forward to meeting this strange new family and didn't actually trust them. The only things she knew about this family were that they lived in Konohagakure and were excited to meet her. That's what they said last time, the girl cursed as she zipped the bag of her stuff. In the end she decided to give this family a chance but she swore that if anything went wrong then she was going to out of their faster than a person could shout stop. A knock on the door dragged her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see a strange woman looking at her.

"Hello Sakura, I'm here to take you to your family, they're waiting for you in the main hall." The social worker smiled sweetly at her. Slinging her bag on to her back and Tomi at her heel, the two followed the woman through the maze of halls. Behind the blank guard she had put up, Sakura was upset that she had no one to comfort her as she was introduced to these people but sadly no one could attend and she had not been able to ask Naruto since he had strangely been avoiding her when she got the news two days ago. Sensing her discomfort, Tomi barked encouragement at her and Sakura reached down to scratch his ear.

"Thanks for the support pal." She smiled at her animal friend, only getting another happy bark in response. For a second, the small group stopped in front of two double doors that barred them from going any further. This is it! Sakura thought as she took a deep breath. The old woman, held the door open for her and the young girl walked in only to stop instantly when she took in the crowd of people.

"Sakura, I would like to introduce you to the Namikaze family." The old woman greeted but there was no need for it; she knew actually who they were. Plus, it was hard to miss the yellow whirlwind heading for her direction.


	13. Good News

The sound of the alarm clock buzzed through Sakura's head as her hand reached out and smashed the thing quiet with her fist. Got to get up, Grandpa's expecting me to make breakfast today, Sakura thought in her dream like state. Pushing herself off the bed, the girl took a moment to stretch all of her tired limbs and rubbed the sleepy dust out of her eyes. Through when she was finally able to open her emerald eyes she almost jumped out of her skin in surprise as green orbs took in the strange room around her. This isn't my room? She thought, suddenly more alert. The place that she had woken up in was five times bigger, surrounded by solid oak furniture and pretty green walls with cherry blossom petals at the bottom. Then it finally hit her; this was her new home with her new family. A part of her felt sad at this notation but also happy as she jumped out of bed and dressed herself into beige three- quarter length trousers, with a long dark pink t-shirt and causal green body warmer jacket over the top that had a white circle on the back. Not to mention her black gloves which she swept off the top of her dressing table and pulled them tightly over hand hands. Brushing her hair she quickly ran to the bathroom to wash her face and hands before skipping down the stairs into the main family dining area where everyone seemed to be still asleep accept from Naruto's mother who was busy setting up breakfast.

"Good morning Sakura, did you sleep well?" Kushina asked as she began arranging the plates on the table. It had been a strange experience living with the family. Everything was different like before she was up every morning worried about whether she had enough money to pay the rent this week, all the chores she needed to do and whether her grandfather had got up the courage to 'cook' again. In this new life she didn't have to worry about money troubles, lists of chores to do (she still had to do them to learn responsibility but that wasn't a much as there had been) or eating terrible cheap food. Despite all these big achievements she was lucky to have, she would trade them all to have her grandfather back. It still hurt to think he was gone but she wasn't alone and everyone had been so supportive in her loss.

"Yes I did, would you like some help setting out the table?" Sakura offered. Graciously, the red haired woman handed some of the plates and cutlery to her and began placing them around the table. Just as they were finished the whole family seemed to all come in at that moment.

"Smells good sweet heart." Minato cheered happily as he kissed his wife on the cheek passing her to his own seat at the head of the table. Sakura loved the fact that Minato and Kushina were a couple because sometimes when she watched them it was like watching a romance movie and they did the sweetest things; something she could not say for the rest of the family. Kakashi and Jirayia were both well known perverts, Tsunade just seemed to feminist to even think of falling in love with a man (even though Sakura knew better) and Naruto was really too young to understand the concept yet. Taking her place between Tsunade and Naruto, the pink haired girl settled into her own seat and waited patiently, as her adoptive mother dished up breakfast for the family. Something suddenly nipped her on the toe and looking down she saw that Tomi had sneaked under the table as his tail waggled enthusiastically to be fed. It was like a game to the two children as they tried to sneak food under the table for the small dog, though ever since living in this household, the dog was starting to grow bigger and stronger and soon it would be impossible for the dog to slip under the table for food.

"You two stop that instantly!" The grandmother snapped at them and they instantly withdraw their hands and tried to look innocent like nothing had happened. Though Tomi didn't to take the warning the right why as his front paws and head popped on to the top of Tsunade knees and looked at her with a puppy dog look. Despite her old warning to the children she could not help but give the animal a little treat.

Sakura was bored, very bored. Most of the family had left to get to work or attend school, something that Sakura sadly had no apart of yet. Civilian school was out of the question as she took a written exam for it and after going through her answers simply did not have the proper trained staff or equipment to take someone on with her IQ. They had tried tutoring but most of the time that came around the same route and would even debate to her teacher about his own knowledge. Though she rather be at school doing something or even at work to get her attention. Sadly a health official came in and looked through – employee records to find out he was breaking the law by hiring a ten year old girl to do his work. Stupid health officials, Sakura cursed to herself as she sat at her window admiring the garden view and patting Tomi on the head with one of her hands. Playing with some of her toys did not help either as she had gotten bored playing with herself. The creaking of the door suddenly caught her attention and she looked up to see Kushina popping her head through the door.

"I'm heading into town to do some shopping, would you like to come?" The woman asked but was slow to recognise that Sakura had already begun putting on her green sandals to join her.

"Let's go!" The young girl beamed happily as she took the woman's hand and dragged her out of the house with the dog following behind them.

Since it was a work day, most of the market area was quiet as woman and child walked down the streets. It gave Sakura a proper look around to watch out for presents she might get her new family as Christmas was quickly approaching but what do you get a family that already had everything. It was very difficult. Most of the items she didn't take much interest in and the other stuff were too expensive to buy even if she used up all her pocket money for one person. As Kushina bargained with a shopkeeper over the price of fruit and veg, Sakura's eyes scanned the shop windows of the surrounding windows and stalls. Suddenly, something glittered in the corner of her eye. What was that? She wondered as her body moved without thinking to the window the twinkle had come from with Tomi following quickly behind her. Leaning her face against the market window, her hands quickly scan the sharp blades the sat around the window that had jewels placed in the handles. Suddenly, she recognised the shop and her eyes began deeper into the background of the display as she tried to find the item she was looking for. There it is! Sakura wanted to scream in delight when she saw the weapon there. It wasn't made of gold or covered in jewels like the others. The blade was made of stainless steel with a simple black handle. This was the sword she had been saving up for herself and then her grandpa had promise to teach her how to use it. A heavy thought fell on her as she thought of her old man and the way she was going to wait longer for the piece of equipment but she knew her new family and friends came first and that was how it was going to stay.

"See something you like?" A voiced suddenly spoke behind and Sakura almost jumped out of her socks as she spun around to find Kushina standing right behind her. The girl always forgot that this woman was a well trained shinobi as well and when she wasn't using her abilities always got caught out by the woman's quiet approach. All of a sudden, Sakura felt trapped. She hadn't meant to be caught looking through such a pricey window, she had just been interested in what was glittering and went to investigate, that was all. "Anything you want in there for Christmas?" She asked again as she tried to look for herself. The young girl could only stand there in shock. Nothing about her should of been surprised by this since she was buying presents for the same reason but actually been asked it by this woman was a different matter. The family had already given her so much, she felt bad if she were to ask for more.

"No! No... I was just looking." All of the words stumbled out of the mouth before she could stop herself as she was desperate to move to anyway but here. After a few moments of examining the window, her adoptive mother finally looked at her. Sakura couldn't read the expression on the woman's face and probably could find out if she really wanted to but didn't dare consider it.

Sitting up in the highest branch of the tree in the back garden, Sakura stared down at her brother as his narrows blue eyes stared at the bottom of the tree trunk with intense fire. Then he ran right at it and his feet touch the trunk and continued climbing it with only his feet. Just over half way up the first layer of the tree branch crumbled and Naruto lost his footing, though he was quickly able to recover and was able to place another slash on the bark before gently landing back on to his feet. He's defiantly improving, Sakura thought as she admired how high he had placed the next scratched compared to the other ones. On the other tree, Hinata sat a few branches lower then Sakura but she had been able to use her charka well enough to get to the first layer of branches. Only Naruto had yet to get up far enough to be able to sit on a branch.

"Come on Naruto! You can do it!" Sakura shouted encouragement at him from her tree branch as she saw the determined fire grow in his eyes again and once again he tried but still only managed to get so far above the old mark he had left.

"Children! Dinner!" Kushina voice echoed through the back garden just as Naruto was about to take another shot. Sakura and Hinata jumped down from their branches and began walking towards the house. It looked like the hyperactive blonde was about to protest so he could fit in some training but the sound of his mouth was tuned out by the loud rumble of his stomach.

"Come on Naruto, you can't train on an empty stomach." Hinata caring voice pointed out as she took one of his hands in her small pale ones and dragged him towards the house; even Naruto couldn't debate with her on that logic.

Later on, after Hinata had gone home, Minato suddenly announced a family meeting around the dinner table. Taking their seats at the table, Sakura and Naruto always kept staring at another. One time they would be trying to secertly figure out what all this mess was about and other times the pink haired girl was trying to work out what prank did her brother pull of this time to call a family meeting. Other questions that wondered through the ten year olds mind as she sat there was what did people talk about in family meetings? She had never been to one before and didn't know whether they were a good thing or a bad thing; Naruto couldn't make his mind up either.

"What do you thinks' going on?" He questioned fidgeting in his seat as they all waited for Kakashi.

"I don't know you're the expert on this kind of thing." Sakura hissed back as they talked in low whispers. "What was the last family meeting about?"

"The last one was to stop grandpa Jirayia peaking on grandma's hot tub parties." Naruto reported back. Now that would have been a funny one to witness! Sakura couldn't help but giggle to herself; Jirayia always seemed to be in trouble when it came to Tsunade. Finally, the lazy ass jonin finally opened the door with his famous orange book popped up in front of his face.

"Yo." He greeted as he start done in one of the seats next to Minato still reading his book. The Hokage reached forward and stole the book from the man's hands.

"You can have back after we've talked." Minato grinned at his adopted son and former student. For a few seconds, the youngest children had to hid their faces so Kakashi couldn't see them laughing at his childish behaviour as the grown man slumped back into his chair with his arms stubbornly crossed like a five year old that had just had his favourite taken away. Now that the last member of the family had arrived it was time to get down to business. "This won't take long but we thought you might want to hear the news, Kushina would you like to tell them the first bit of news." The leader smiled as he took his wife's hand in his.

"I'm pregnant." Kushina beamed proudly and everyone's mouth fell open in shock before finally cheering.

"Glad to see my former student still got a bit of skill left in him." Jirayia boosted smugly at his former student which earned him a smack around the head from his former team mate.

"Don't ruin it!" She snapped and everyone couldn't help but laugh at their behaviour.

"There's one other thing we would like to mention." Minato suddenly spoken through the sound of happiness and once again everyone was quiet, even his wife didn't seem to know what other news her husband had hidden up his sleeve. "I was able to pull a few strings and I managed to get Sakura enrolled in the ninja academy, if that's what you..."

"Are you serious?" Sakura couldn't help but shout out as she was unable to hold her excitement back, her green orbs wide with hope as she begged this occasion not to be a dream. With one firm nod from the older man she was satisfied enough to know she was going to be a ninja.

Sakura couldn't believe her luck. Not only did she have an amazing family but was going to become and ninja (something she had always dreamed of being) plus, she got to have a new sibling to love in about nine months. The very idea of sleep just seemed to be in another reality as her body was buzzing from too much excitement to relax. Her very first day of school was tomorrow and she couldn't but think of the possibilities of what she might learn or the people she might meet. As she thought this through the image of Sasuke Uchiha popped into her mind and she couldn't help but gag. Well, I guess I can't have everything she wondered to herself and thought of all the possible ways she could annoy him, the girl was sure Naruto would be very happy to help. Just then the door creaked opened and Tsunade stepped into the room.

"I thought I heard too much fidgeting going on." The old woman smiled as she made her way over to the bed and pulled the covers back up until they reached her chin. "I'm sorry to tell you that I, Shinzune or Jirayia wouldn't be here tomorrow but we wish you the best." She nodded apologetically and Sakura just shrugged.

"It's okay, I knew you all had to go sooner or later anyway... you're still coming back for Christmas right?" Sakura asked worried for a second but was soon reassured.

"Yes we'll all be back in time for Christmas." The medic comforted, setting the young girls mind at rest. Bending forward she kissed the child on the forehead. "Goodnight Sakura."

"Goodnight Tsunade." Sakura yawned as she closed her eyes and snuggled into bed. Before Tsunade left the room, the doctor took one last look over her shoulder as she thought how much the girl had achieved in the last ten years, when she last held that little girl as a baby in her arms.

"Students! We have a new pupil joining our class today, please welcome Sakura Haruno." Iruka introduced her as Sakura stood at the front of the class with her casual gear on but had arm and knee pads added to it with a brand new Kunai pouch that Minato had given to her. There was a chorus of a few low hi's and hello but nothing that sounded truly enthusiastic about her arrival. There were more children then she expected sitting among the roles of desks that went up the classroom steps. She only recognised a small amount, such as Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke not to mention one blonde girl that she knew she had seen before but could not think where. "So Sakura tell us a little about yourself." Her teacher encouraged. Sakura was well prepared for this as Naruto had gone through what every new student had to say.

"Hello, I'm Sakura, I like reading, animals and hanging out with my friends, I dislike bullies, coffee and my pink hair but I've learned to live with it, my dream is to become a strong ninja to protect those precious to me." Up in the back row she could see Naruto madly waving at her encouragement. As soon as she was done her sensei allowed her to go and pick any seat she wanted. Automatically she ran up to the back where her friends had saved her a pace. The first lesson was history and even though the new student already knew the fabrication of how the village was built, Sakura was scribbling notes down in her note book. For all she knew there was something that she might have missed out from the stories her grandfather had told her. Hinata was doing a similar thing while the hyperactive wrote bits down every now and again between his doodles. After that was maths which Sakura spent most of her time helping her brother through algebra and then finally what she had been waiting for; taijutsu training. Once they teacher got them outside, the teacher got them to do basic warm ups. Everyone had to do a gentle jog around the field, followed by stretches before performing push ups and sit ups. This is easy, Sakura thought to herself as she did it all in record time, her grandfathers ruthless training sessions hadn't been for nothing. After that was all done it was time to put the children all into pairs to practice fighting each other. Sakura got paired up with some kid name Kiba who had shaggy brown hair, dark eyes and a grinned similar to Naruto only with much larger canines.

"Don't worry newbie, I'll go easy on you." The boy smiled at her and Sakura could feel a giant sweat drop running down the side of her head. Nice to know, she thought sarcastically in her head and placed herself into a defensive position. The boy threw a lazy punch at her and she smacked it hard to the side before ducking down and performing a scissor cut on him, knocking the boy to the ground. Quicker than a flash of light, the girl was on his back holding back his arm in an odd angle position.

"That's for thinking me weak!" She stated before finally getting off him. The boy was back on his feet after her and rubbed his sore shoulder. "Now! Are you going to fight me probably?" Sakura demanded, she was meant to be training as a ninja and was not going to let some stuck up man get in her way. Kiba looked at her again with a wolf like smile on his face.

"I guess I miss-judged you." He grinned.

"Well, duh!" Was her only response. After that matter was all settled they finally had a decent fight. Sakura beat him more times during the spar as Kiba was more about strength then anything lse but their were times he was almost able to land an harmful attack on her from his sneakiness. All in all the first half of her school day had gone well and she was looking forward to the rest of it.

**Me: Hello my lovely readers. As you have read from this chapter Kushina is pregnant. **

**Inner Me: Yay!**

**Me: Shut it you or I put you in the naughty corner again.**

**Inner Me: :P**

**Me: Anyway, when I first began writing this chapter I hadn't actually intended to write that but it was a spare of the moment thing but I thought it would be a great way for you guys to get involved by saying if you wanted the next kid in this family to be a boy or a girl, so if you're really desperate to have your say then don't be afraid to leave a review saying what you want, I would do a poll but the other times I've done that haven't actually worked out well so I'm giving this a try. Keep reading :D Love x0hannah0x**


	14. Lunch

Outside, the academy playground was filled with children from all years playing with each other or eating their lunches with their friends. In the shade of the trees, the friends had their lunch boxes out with their food, eating and laughing with each other, along with Neji and his year friend Tenten. Sakura liked the older girl; she was independent and focused on her ninja studies unlike some of the other girls the ten year old she had come across who seemed to be more focus on falling in love with some handsome, brave ninja they would fall in love with on a mission then caring whether they were fighting for the good of the village; something that the poor prodigy from the Hyuga clan had to live with every day and since she was in a good mood, even felt sorry for chicken butt who for some reason had millions of fan girls following him around all day. At the moment, both girls were debating over which weapon was better, a kunai or a senbon, until a shadow blocked the winter sunlight. Looking up to see who it was, Sakura could only see large canine teeth blocking her vision.

"Hey pinkie! Mind if I sit here?" Kiba asked but did not wait for a reply as he just sat down next to her. Not caring at all that he nearly sat on her sandwich that her adoptive mother had made this morning with her favourite ingredients; sausages. The ten year old had to work quickly to push her food out of the way so that she wouldn't have to eat butt flattened sandwich.

"What do you want dog boy?" Naruto eyed the fellow from their class suspiciously but his question was completely ignored as Kiba's puppy eyes were all focused on the pink haired girl.

"So you want to go on a date sometime?" He inquired, his large teeth beaming in the light. We're ten years old and he's already thinking about dating? Sakura wondered to herself but couldn't really blame the whole idea on him as some of the girls in her class her already planned weddings details to their marriage to Sasuke Uchiha.

"I'll pass thanks." She rejected politely as she began munching back into her food. However, despite the sad look she was expecting to see on her sparring partners face, he looked... fine.

"Don't worry, all the girls changed their mind in the end." He grinned at her and Sakura couldn't stop the huge sweat drop falling down the side of her head.

"What girls?" Tenten mocked him and everyone in the group started laughing, apart from Kiba who looked slightly embarrassed now. After a few moments of abnormal silence, the new addition fit into the group perfectly. Though, Naruto and Kiba seemed to rub off on each other in the wrong way still because of their similar personalities but seemed to get along fine in the end.

Halfway through lunch, Sakura excused herself to the ladies room, leaving the two boys to argue who was better than the other. It didn't take her long to find it as she used her abilities to map out the whole school in her head, so she knew where everything was and every person. Which was why she was not surprised to find a large group of girls standing in front of the bathrooms, one of them being the blonde girl that Sakura had trouble remembering. Just as she placed a hand on the door, a hand shot out and barred her from entering.

"Five yen please." The tall girl snorted sarcastically and some of the girls laughed, though the new student found it difficult to understand what was so funny.

"I wouldn't even pay that to have your face reconstructed." Sakura snapped back, sending the whole area into silence; over the years of abuse she had received on the lower levels of the hidden villages living environment, the pink haired girl had learned to stand up for herself. Besides, Sakura had a strict human rights policy that all people should be allowed to go to the toilet when they need it. The head girl, who barred her entrance, only seemed to grow angrier as her face turned to a strange tomato red colour.

"You've got a problem with my face." She hissed, a spray of spit falling on the pink girls face but she refused to move an inch of her muscles and stood her ground firmly. Sensing something strange, Sakura looked out of the corner of her eye to see the blonde girl with the high ponytail giving her a pleading look to not push it any further. A little too late for that, the new student told herself as she knew that when you attacked a woman's appearance that was no turning back.

"Not yet but I soon will if you don't let me pass." She eyed the girl, refusing to back down. As the two of them stared at each other in a silent take down, the other group of girls stood and watch waiting for someone to make the first move. Under per pressure, it was the bully who through the first punch. As the fist came at her face, Sakura jumped back and aimed a high turning kick towards the taller girls head. Shock but the speed and flexibility it took to stretch her leg up that high, the bully didn't have enough time to block the advance, and had her face smacked into the side wall. As the girl sank to the floor holding her face in pain, Sakura went to the bathroom.

First day and I already got into a fight, Sakura thought to herself later on when she was sitting down with her friends again finishing off lunch and she was explaining to them what had happen on her visit to the girls toilets. She hoped that no one would tell on her because even though deep down her knew she gave the student a piece of her own medicine that she would get in trouble with the adults. Still, I suppose it could have gone worse! The pink haired girl thought to herself. I could have got in a fight and lost!

After lunch the students of the ninja academy were again back inside their classes learning ninja theory. As Iruka sensei had his back to the class, most of the children found the opportunity to whisper among themselves, sending glances at her before noticing that she could see them and turned away again, embarrassed. It there was one thing that Sakura hatred apart from having pink hair, a slightly large forehead and bullies then it was when other people talked about her when she was right behind them. Honestly, it was like every person thought they had an invisible wall around them to hold in all their secrets as they whispered to one another and these people wanted to be ninja's!

"I heard she knocked her head off and the medics had to reattach it to her spine." One student gossiped in the row to her left and Sakura had the sudden urge to bang her head on the table. Where do people get these ideas from? She wondered to herself.

"Seems like you got yourself a bit of a reputation already Sakura." Naruto grinned, elbowing her in the side. I didn't want it to make like this, Sakura wanted to say out loud but chose to keep it to herself. She hoped people wouldn't begin calling her The Head Knock Offer or something that was a bit easier on the tongue. Honestly, all she did was kick the girl around the head, the girl was positive that worse fights had happened; it was a ninja school after all. Maybe it was because she was the new girl that made her stick out more than the rest. The whispering began to die down when their teacher turned to them and threaten to make everyone stay after school if they didn't listen. So thankfully she was allowed to write her notes in peace. That was until she heard someone's tummy rumble, she tried to ignore it but the sound only got louder. Looking up, she saw a chubby boy sitting in front of her with spiky, light, reddy brown hair trying to muffle the sound up with no success. Reaching down into her back she picked up the bag of crisps she had left over from lunch and poked him on the back. The boy looked at her with a worried expression on his face.

"Here, have this." She ordered, passing the food over to him. Gratefully, the boy accepted it and shot her a nervous smile.

"Thanks." He whispered back and dug into the treat he had been giving. After a while the noise disappeared and for a short while. Until she heard snoring. At first she thought it was her imagination but when it continued she look up to see the boy with the dark ponytail sitting next to the hungry boy asleep. Wasn't he the same guy that was asleep this morning to, she wondered to herself and stared at the boy with great interested.

"Don't bother trying to wake him; he'll just fall back to sleep again." The chubby boy told her, noticing her staring at him.

"Choji's right, Shikamaru could sleep through a whole war if one suddenly happened." Naruto joked and Sakura couldn't help but smile, the guy with the ponytail was very unusual.

"But won't he get in trouble." She asked the boys around her, worried that Iruka sensei would tell the sleepy boy off and punish him but everyone else didn't seem very worried but this fact.

"You worry too much you troublesome girl." A lazy voice muttered and her attention turned towards the dark brown eyes that were now open and staring right at her. Sakura found it quite offensive to be called 'troublesome' but she didn't push her luck, she had already drawn the line today with the bathroom incident and worried that if she caught the teachers' attention she'll cause a bigger problem for herself. For a while the small group talked, only stopping to write down important facts they needed to know (well everyone except Naruto and Shikamaru) Sakura really liked Choji though it got him a while to open up a bit at first since he was rather shy and had a bit of a confidence problem and Shikamaru just found everything to much effort and 'troublesome' though she had to admit he did seem very smart and thought his sarcastic humour was quite funny. Finally, it was time to go home and everyone packed up their stuff and headed out.

Sakura, Naruto, Hinata and Neji, stood at the front entrance of the playground waiting to see if any of the adults were going to walk them home. They said if no one showed up in fifteen more minutes than they would just walk home and leave a message for Kakashi that as usual his tardiness had unexpected consequences. Around the playground they could see other kids running to meet their parents or friends to walk home with and despite her short arrival she saw three of the boys she had been introduce to today give her and her friends a wave goodbye.

As they promised, after twenty minutes, the small group was walking home after leaving a message for Kakashi to say they were at home as they made their way home. Their first stop was the Hyuga compound, where Neji and Hinata said goodbye and went to Lord Hyuga for some training, leaving Naruto and Sakura to journey home by themselves. They both talked about (well Sakura did most of the talking) about how exciting the pink hair girl first day of the academy was. It was better than she expected, the girl had made some new friends, she hadn't butted heads with Sasuke Uchiha in the slightest way and not mention she had kicked Kiba's butt in her first taijutsu lesson. All in all it had been a very good. However, before they could reach the door of their house, smoke suddenly busted out of nowhere and the children couldn't help but choke a little on the smoke.

"Thanks for waiting for me guys." Kakashi confronted them with a pretend hurtful look on his face. His younger siblings weren't buying it though.

"You shouldn't be late." Naruto pointed out, waggling his finger in a telling of manner.

"I was only half an hour late!" The silver haired man whined in his defence (in all fairness that was kind of an achievement for him) but before more could be said, the loud barking of a puppy could be heard and suddenly, Sakura finally found herself tackled by a puppy.

"Woo boy!" Sakura couldn't contain her laughter, as the puppy continued to lick her face. The girl could understand why he was so frantic to see her as this was the longest they had been apart ever since she got out of the hospital and the half earless dog got a little stress if he didn't see her for a long period of time. "Man have I got lots of things to tell you about today." She squealed excitedly, as she hoisted the puppy into the air and then placed him beside her so she could get back up.

"How was your first day of school Sakura?" Minato asked as the family sat around the table that night eating dinner. As soon as the questioned was asked Sakura went off on one explain how amazing her day was and all the new people she met. The adults could not get rid of the smile on their faces as they watched the young girl talk with a smile on her face. The only thing she left out was her fight by the toilets but she told herself they didn't need to know that.

But if she thought she had a lucky escape then she was completely wrong. However, she wasn't confronted until bedtime when she was grabbing her toy owl off the bedside table and Minato came to tuck her into bed. As he sat on the side and pulled her covers up, Tomi came in dragging his tired feet along the floor and placed himself in the door basket at the end of the bed.

"I'm glad you had a good first day Sakura but we need to talk about the fight you got into today." He spoke firmly and the girl new the game was up. Busted! Sakura told herself as she sat herself up slightly. How did he find out?

"It was her fault." Sakura defended herself, not to mention it was the truth since she would not of gotten into the fight in the first place if the girl had not been blocking the door to the bathroom, plus it wasn't like the girl hadn't been warned, earlier that day she had told the whole class she hated bullies; did no one heed any warning from that? Instead of looking angrily or annoyed like she thought he would, the Hokage insisted that she told her side of the story and listened carefully to what she had to say. Sakura did her best to try and stay neutral with the information she was giving him but couldn't help but let little outbursts of rage escape every now and again. After she had finished, she had expected some kind of long boring lecture to boring; again she was proven wrong.

"You had every right to defend yourself Sakura but you can't solve everything with violence next time you just walk away." The Hokage told her but the young girl wasn't actually convinced.

"Yeah but I'm going to be ninja I can't just turn my back on anything that gets a little rough!" The girl protested.

"Yes that is true but remember this." The firmness in his voice made Sakura sit up a little straighter as she listened to her adoptive father. "You must remember that you are a soldier and yourself, you must keep the two different people separate, if you let your feelings come in to your profession you could end up making a mistake you will regret for the rest of your life and you must let the shinobi life consume your ordinary life otherwise it will destroy you. It up to you to learn which one must do what." With that he pulled the covers up to her chair and wished her goodnight. The loneliness gave her time to allow what the man had said to sink in.


	15. Broken Bones

Sakura accelerated well at school. Especially in the taijutsu section because of her talent in speed, unusual temperamental strength and special fighting style. Sometimes, Iruka sensei and Mizuki would watch her technique with interest since very little people knew how to do it; apparently fox style fighting was almost lost in the earlier shinobi war. She didn't mind Iruka watching her, in fact his grandfather was a kitsune user so knew a few points to help her out but there was something about her other sensei that she didn't trust. Every now and again she was attempted to use her ability on him but always pulled herself back when she was nearly over the edge. Every time he watched she always held herself back so he wouldn't see her full extent. One night she even had a nightmare that she was fighting the teacher in the village forests. In the end she tried to focus all her energy into her studies, training and finding the perfect presents for everyone. Another thing she was good in was strategy and was one of the highest in the class but she didn't beat Shikamaru and Shino. Sometimes even Naruto would surprise her because he was good at being deceptive and could think on the spot in tight situations. The teachers also claimed she had perfect charka control which was better than most adult ninja. However, there was one thing she was uncomfortable with school about was her admirer; Rock Lee. It had been sweet at first, when Tenten and Neji introduced another year mate to their group and had laid eyes on her for the first time. His big round eyes had turned into pink hearts. At first it had been oddly flattering but now it was just annoying; she liked him as a friend though.

One day, Sakura had been outside practicing her charka control excises with Naruto and controlling her ability she picked up on three unusual charka signs. At first she panicked not sure what to do and was slow to react into time to notice three dark cloaked figures landing in front of the back door. Inhaling a short snap of breath, Sakura was just about to shout for help when the Hokage stepped out and invited the three men in. Just before he slid the door closed behind him, he noticed that his adoptive daughter had been watching the seen with confusion and worried. He showed her an encouraging before disappearing inside the house. For a long time, Sakura was left worrying outside, trying to tell herself that he was old and capable enough to look after himself; after all Minato was the fourth Hokage and possibly the most powerful man on this planet. Instead she focused her attention on her brother, making sure he didn't do anything stupid. Though she was glad to report that the boys tree climbing had improve immensely over training and was almost near the top of the tree now. Lying beside her was Tomi, showing no sign that he had sensed the added ninja presence as well. Finally, Minato came back outside to call the children back in for dinner. Naruto jumped into view for the first time and went running into the kitchen. The pink haired girl approached the mansion with more caution, sensing every shadow, twist and turn but found no cloaked figures there anymore; they must have sneaked out the mansion another way.

Since Kushina had gone for a girls nights out with some of her friends, it meant the man of the house was left to feed the kids and cooking wasn't one of his specialties. That meant take-out. Sakura' old boss, Tanaka had been more than happy to take on the challenge and got one of his new carriers to drop it off. The food sat arranged around the middle of the table, Mr Tanaka had truly out done himself; he had even done a special bowl for Tomi. The family quickly dug into the food, with the father asking about the children days and listened to their days with great interest. Sakura was tempted to ask about the cloak figures but had a feeling it was Hokage only business and decided to keep it to herself for now.

"Dad! I almost made it to the top today!" Naruto cheered excitedly, skipping forward to his training triumphant.

"Well done son, I'm sure that next time you'll be able to reach the top." He encouraged his son and gave him a proud pat on the shoulder, looking up; the hyperactive blond had a large, beaming smile on his face. Sakura had nothing to add to that. She didn't really have anything that she thought was worth mentioning. During her spare she had been looking at medical journals she had randomly found on the shelf and had been studying them. She was saw they had come from Tsunade as she thought no one else in the house had a reason to have them in this family. Sometimes, she would find injured animals laying about and tried some of the medical ninjutsu on them. No one knew she had been doing it but she thought there wasn't really anyone she could talk to, not until Tsunade or Shizune got back anyway. When Naruto suddenly left for an urgent toilet call, Sakura took this opportunity to ask her father a simple question.

"Who were the people that came to visit today?" She asked, thinking that he might show a sign of tension but then she guessed the man had been preparing for this as he propped himself up like he was preparing to talk to a room full of jonin with a speech he had prepared and everything.

"They were ANBU Sakura, there are a special unit of the shinobi force that deal with high class missions." He informed her with Sakura nodding at every word. Her late grandfather used to tell them stories about the black ops but he seemed unwilling to go into any details. "I've recruited those three for a special mission and they will be coming to see me frequently, so don't be worried about those three men…"

"Those two men and woman." The ten year old corrected, accidently cutting him off in his sentence.

"Pardon?" The Hokage asked a little taken back by what she had said to him.

"One of them was a woman, I had been practicing my sensing abilities while they arrived and was able to pick up on them." She informed him and the Hokage looked a little relieved for some reason. Sakura was unable to know why since at that moment her brother came bouncing back in to finish off his meal.

The following day, Naruto and Sakura were at school, waiting outside with the other children. They were all waiting for their sensei to announce who they were paired against, so they could continue their taijutsu training. There was a lot of hush talking going around between the students, mostly among the female populace. They kept looking at Sakura and then turned their direction to the moody looking emo kid and then back at her with evil looking glances.

"Does anyone know what they're talking about?" Sakura asked the group of friends but all of them weren't paying attention to know what anyone was talking about. They didn't get any further into the investigation because Iruka sensei had announced the first match.

"Sakura Haruno versus Sasuke Uchiha!" The announcement flew around the area quickly silencing the whole group. Leaning forward, the pink haired girl looked up the aisle to see the blue haired boy looking back at her. His usual emotionless face now had a small smirk on his face. This match wasn't just training, it was personal. The girl was sure that they Uchiha was looking for some way to get even with her for the last black eye she gave him. It all made sense. From what she had heard about Sasuke Uchiha was that he was all about pride so was shocked when he didn't retaliate. But there was something no one had picked up on. The Uchiha was patient; he had been waiting for this moment. However, there was one thing that he hadn't taken into account. Sakura wasn't actually a pushover and she didn't plan on giving him the satisfaction. She waited patiently with the rest of the students to be assigned their partners before moving to a spot on the far edge of the field. At the same time all the students bowed to each other before stepping into their fighting positions. They all had to wait for their sensei to shout start to begin.

As soon as Iruka sensei called out, Sasuke went into action, aiming a high kick towards her head. Sakura loved that she had a mazing reflexes because she just barely dodge the foot. Smacking the leg aside she went low into a scissor cut but he jumped to avoid the attack, kicking at as he did so. The foot hit her shoulder, not bad enough to hurt but it still knocked her off balance. Landing back on to his feet, her opponent took this opportunity to try and punch her in the chest. To avoid it, she did a sudden back flipped which helped to gain a bit of distance between them. He ran at her with a speed that was almost equal to hers but still wasn't enough. There was a reason Sakura was praised for her skill in speed and agility. She ran towards him as well. Neither of them showed signs of slowing down as they ran towards each other, only gaining. They were just an inch away when Sakura suddenly disappeared from view. Sasuke didn't even have time for an expression of shock when her foot connected with the back of his leg. He was falling backwards when the girl grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. Crack! The sound rebounded across the training ground. Both Sasuke and Sakura were silent for a few moments before he finally let out a cry of pain.

It was clear that she had accidently broken one of his bones. Ignoring his protests, she turned him on to his side and looked at the arm he was cradling. With her hands glowing green, she put her hands on his arm. First she located which bone was broken and located where the crack was. Then sending some of her charka into the crack she forced the bone marrow to begin its healing process quicker, controlling where the marrow went and soon enough the bones were healed once again. During her treatment on him, Sakura had not realised that they had gathered a small crowd.

"Sakura how long have you been able to do that?" Iruake asked, surprise written all over his face.

"Well…" Sakura wondered to herself on how long she had been reading the medical texts. "A couple of weeks now but this is my first try I've tried the technique on fixing human bone."

Sakura accepted a lot of unfair things in her life. But this was just pushing it to new extremes. Yes she had broken Sasuke's arm but it wasn't like she had intended to. Not to mention they had been fighting each other so something like this could have happened to anyone and she had fixed it. Sure it was the first time she had ever tried healing human bone but still she didn't screw up and healed it completely, almost like it had never happened. Now she was forced to sit outside Iruka's office and have a 'sit down' with her guardians. Sitting beside her was Naruto, trying to calm her down.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'm sure it's just a warning or something." The blonde tried to say but she had a feeling it was something much worse.

"What if it isn't Naruto? What if I push the line to far this time? What if …" Her ranting was cut off when a puff of smoke appeared in front of them, making them choke a little on the grey gas.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted with his usual tilt of the head and eye crinkle. Okay…? Was the only thing Sakura could think of at that moment. If she was being honest she had expected one of adoptive parents but not the lazy man himself.

"Where's mum and dad?" Naruto asked with Sakura nodding in agreement.

"Dad's stuck in a meeting and mum had to go to the hospital for some baby thing." Kakashi answered, making this whole scene a little more understandable. The jonin took a seat next to her, messing up her hair in the process, in a comforting matter. Like Naruto he didn't seemed worried about the situation and to show it he pulled his orange book out of his pocket and held it in front of his face. Then he seemed to remember that he was reading and adult theme book in front of younger children. Usually he wouldn't have cared about reading this type of stuff around youngsters but Kushina and Tsunade had sworn that if any of the men were caught reading porn in front of their children they were going to suffer painful tests. "Don't tell mum about this." He warned and both the children made gestures of pretending to zip their lips closed. Just then the door opened and the orange book disappeared back into the pouch.

"Oh Kakashi I hadn't been expecting you." Iruka spoke once he had stepped out of his office and seen the silver head man.

"It's nice to see you to." Kakashi smiled back as he got out of his seat, quickly followed by Sakura, as her teacher gestured them into an office. Taking one last look at her brother, the blonde shoot her a cheesy grin and a thumbs up. Giving him a weak smile back, the ten year old walked into the office.

Sakura wished she could have laughed at the sight but was able to hold it in. Her sensei was always lecturing them that a ninja must be organised and tidy, so they looked not only professional but have everything in order. The teacher's office was the complete opposite. It was small and kind of roomy with piles of paper work everywhere and dust gathering among the objects. There were three chairs placed around the desk, one on the far side and two in front of them. Iruka sat on the chair on the far side while Sakura and Kakashi placed themselves down on the other. The chunin tried to arrange some of the objects on his desk to look tidier but without much success.

"Has anyone been aware that Sakura knows advance medical jutsu?" Iruka questioned and by the side glance that Kakashi shot her with his wide lone eye was a clear sign that he didn't know. "What about you Sakura? Have you told anyone?" Her teacher asked, turning his direction towards her. Unable to find the words Sakura just shook her head. Was all of this because she fixed Sasuke's arm? If it was then this was ridiculous, making such a big fuss out of nothing.

"It's not like I did anything wrong!" Sakura defended herself.

"You're not in trouble." The teacher was quick to reassure her. Then what the hell am I doing here! Sakura moaned to herself, more confused than ever before. "Since Sakura's seems to have a lot of skill in medical jutsu but no direction I would like to advise private tutoring." Tutoring? For some reason she really didn't like the sound of the word but the idea of someone helping with some of the trickery stuff she didn't understand.

"All this trouble over tutoring?" Kakashi questioned, his eyebrow arched up a little.

"There was a second thought I would like to point out." Iruka added quickly. "Sakura is quite advance in her studies for someone who has just joined and has the ability to try out the exams early, along with possibly Naruto if he can get his written scores up…"

"But I like it here!" Sakura interrupted and it was the truth. She had never felt so happy and she had so many friends she couldn't bare the thought of leaving them so soon. "I don't want to be able to graduate with my friends." Besides, someone had to make sure Naruto didn't do something stupid during school hours, Sakura thought to herself.

"We're not in a war Iruka, why push her into a shinobi life so early?" Kakashi demanded and by the sound of it seemed to have some experience in this department.

"We thought it might be better an experience field would be better for her learning." The academy teacher pointed out to the duo. "But you don't have to do it and it seems Sakura has already made up."

Tonight the family was all together apart from Kushina who hadn't arrived back from the hospital yet. Everyone was sitting in the living room watching a movie with Princess Gale in it. About half way through the film Mrs Uzumaki finally returned home.

"Who wants to see pictures?" Kushina smiled, sitting next to her husband and pulled a small envelope out of her bag. Forgetting all about the film, the children jumped to their feet and ran over to their parents, leaning over the sides of the chair. They looked at the white and black photograph with their heads tilted as if trying to get a better angle. It didn't actually look human but it was part of the process it had to develop through first and you could defiantly see the head, arms and legs.

"I don't get it, how can a bird deliver a baby when it's already inside?" Naruto asked making everyone freeze. Everyone had been so wrapped up in the new arrival that the adults had forgotten that they had not told Naruto had babies were really made.

"I've got this." Sakura explained and took the hyperactive blonde to the side. The parents seemed to think it was a good idea. If only they were given five minutes longer for Kakashi to explain the situation of Sakura's detailed medical knowledge. But it was already too late as the pink year old explained to her brother the different human parts of a man and a woman, then about loving making and then childbirth.

"I CAME OUT OF MUMS WHAT!"


	16. Bugs Life

"Quick Naruto he's coming!" Sakura hissed, grabbing the blonde by the collar of his winter jacket and whistled for her dog to follow as they dived in the closets bush they could find. It was a crisp winters day, a little bit of frost had settled over the landscape, making everything show a little glitter all around them; almost as if the brown, yellow and red leaves had been covered with diamonds. Peeping through the gaps of the berry bush, both of the children waited cautiously for their guest of honour to arrive at the scene, glad they had their coats to keep them warm as they forced their bodies to ignore the cold and stay completely still. Tomi tried to stick his head over the bush again to sniff the air and Sakura had to pull him back down again. Finally, their target jumped into view, crouching down as he searched around his the area. The silver haired man didn't look long because he soon found his precious orange book laying on the floor.

"Stupid kids, never stay out of my stuff." Kakashi cursed under his mask as he went to collect his property. Well stop being late for stuff! Both of the ten year olds thought, knowing it would never happen so they would never stop taking his stuff. Their bodies tensed with anticipation, as Kakashi's had slowly crept towards his book. Blue and green orbs locked on to the destination as they continued to wait. Snatching is book off the ground, the copy nin hugged this precious book to his chest, only noticing a few seconds later that there was a string attached to it.

However, it was already to let to do anything and he soon found his body being slammed by paint bombs. The colour was covered in colourful dust, which slowly blew away to reveal Kakashi covered head to toe in pink and orange paint. The children couldn't take it anymore and soon fell out the bush, crying with laughter. Tomi was barking with excitement, as if to say 'We got you! We got you!' kind of way. They found it so funny that they couldn't find the will to get back up and clutched onto their stomach as they continue to laugh their heads off, rolling about as they did. Even with the need to breath wasn't enough to make this stop for air. Everything came to a halt when a dark shadow lured over them and looked up to see the masked covered man looking down at them, not looking at all happy.

"Who would have thought we would ever see such bright colours on ya bro?" Naruto beamed up at the older man with Tomi barking in agreement. But their brother continued to look down at them with his arms folded against his chest and his visible eye twitching with irritation. Even though the siblings knew they were in trouble, it didn't extinguish the burning power of pride in their chest. When they had thought of the plan, they knew the idea had very little chance of it actually working; one out of a thousand. But decided to do it anyway just for fun. Never had they expected for it to actually work and they believed a pat on the back was in order.

"Why did you do that for?" The older man demanded, annoyance was clear in his voice when he said it.

"We were bored." The hyperactive knuckle head answered in a way that sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world and was irritated by the fact that Kakashi didn't know that. A few seconds past and the shinobi continued to look at them with a disapproving look on his face. Suddenly, the angry expression left his face and was replaced by his signature crinkle eye smile, holding his arms out to them.

"Ah someone come and give me a hug." He grinned from under his mask and advanced towards them. Realising what their older brother was up to, the two students and animal ran for it with Kakashi in hot pursuit behind them.

Kushina was not in a good mood when all three of her children stepped in to her kitchen all covered with pink and orange paint. While Tomi walked passed them, wagging his tail happily as the dog was the only one who had managed to escape the on slaughter of paint. She soon launched into a long lecture which they were all forced to sit through, even Kakashi who was a grown man of twenty-four years, though she never got to finish because something loud and big jumped into the room.

"Hello kiddies!" Jiraiya beamed, still standing in his strange pose.

"Grandad!" Naruto shouted at the stop of his lungs and ran over to the man. Soon the boy found himself being swung around in the air, laughing his head off. A sudden cough stopped the happy reunion and all eyes turned to the mother again, who still did not look happy. It was only then did he realise the state everyone was in.

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked, his facial expression caught between shock and trying not to laugh at the scene in front of him.

"We pranked Kakashi." Sakura answered, showing a cheerful smile on her face. Despite being told off by her adoptive mother, the girl was still proud of the achievement that she and her partner in crime and performed today.

"Yeah, then he came after us and pulled us into hugs so we got paint all over ourselves as well." The knuckled head laughed; as did Jiraiya and Sakura did her best to hide a smile behind her hands. The mother sent an evil glare into the back of Kakashi's head as he pretended to be fascinated looking at a random spot on the other side of the wall.

"Okay kiddies, go and get yourselves cleaned up and then I can give you presents." He grinned widely. Taking his advice, all of them went upstairs to wash and change. As they made their way to the second level they could hear Kushina telling their grandfather figure off for spoiling the children to much. In all fairness she did have a point; it was a week till Christmas came along and sure enough they would get plenty of presents. It was the silver haired man that took the longest since the paint had dried into his hair and had to put five layers of borrow condition from Sakura to at least the worse of it out but the children had a feeling that little bits would be stuck in his hair for weeks. Luckily there were some of the jonin's old clothes laying about for him to change into. As they made their way back down the stairs they found the adults sitting around the table in hush tones. They stopped as soon as the group came back into the room. "Naruto you first." The old sage called out as he reached into his back pack and pulled out a clothed item. Handing it over to Naruto, the little boy gently began to unwrap it until a tiny arm stuck out of it. Unwrapping it completely, it revealed a small human warrior, holding a double axe. They all soon realised it was one of those collectable figures Naruto used for his dungeons and dragons game. The blonde had the whole set stationed up in the corner of his room and had a whole shelf dedicated to his figurines to live on while they weren't battling each other.

"Wow thanks grandpa!" The hyperactive blonde smiled and gave the old sage another hug before running back up the stairs again to add to his collection.

"Now for you young man." The old man addressed Kakashi as he pulled some rectangle and green out of the bag and handed it to him. The man's eyes widen and he shock a little bit.

"Th… this… this is." It seemed like the man could not get a word out. Stepping on her tip toes, Sakura just made herself tall enough to see the front cover where her face suddenly turned into a frown. Of course! She thought, shaking her head a little in disappointment. It was Jiraiya's new book in the Make Out Paradise series. Before Kushina could scorn him for holding porn in his hand, the jonin jumped out the window and made his way to the roof where he would get privacy.

"Now for you little lady." The sage turned to Sakura who was still a little busy giggling at Kakashi adoration of a silly book. When she realised he was talking to her then she turned silent. Digging through his bag again, he brought out an item that was wrapped in soft silk and about half an arm length long. Carefully, she peeled the soft material away. She could not stop the gasp of wonder when the material moved to reveal and beautiful china doll. It had perfect white skin with a set of green eyes framed in long lashes, curly red hair and wore an emerald dress to match her eyes. Sakura had never owned a doll before but she had always envied girls that carried them around or shopkeepers that decorated their windows with them. A wide smile adored the girl's features as she hugged the doll tight; letting it go again she tidied up the dolls hair and dress.

"I love her Jiraiya, thank you." Sakura beamed; stepping on her toes again she kissed the old man on the cheek and skipped happily to her room.

It was strange how Sakura spent more time taking care of her dolls appearance then her own. In the mornings, it took Sakura five minutes for Sakura to wash her face, comb her hair through with her fingers and dress. But she spent half an hour just brushing her dolls hair. It was odd but she didn't care, she found the moment relaxing and would sometimes hum to herself an old tune from one of the piano pieces her old grandfather taught her to play.

"Sakura! Breakfast!" Kushina loud voice screamed up stairs. Putting her items away she carefully placed the china doll on the bedside table before running down stairs. Once again everyone was at the table, already digging into the waffles that had been cooked for them. Taking her usual place beside Naruto, Sakura woofed down her own food.

"So Sakura… Everyone tells me you're quite nifty with medical jutsus?" The question came from across the table were the sage sat, dressed out of his travelling clothes and into casual attire with his masses of hair lose. Looking up with a giant piece of waffle in her mouth, she was forced to chew o it forever until it was small enough too small and reply to his question.

"I guess you can say that, I can fix things like bones and med a few scratches but I can't get my head around all the complicated stuff." She shrugged and dug back into her food. However, Jiraiya just had a massive sweat drop down the side of his head. He had spent around forty years with his medical team mate and he still didn't understand how the whole process of mending bones worked and he was pretty good at understanding jutsus. Stupid clever women think hard stuff is easy! The old man whined to himself like a child but the feeling came and went like lightning.

"Shame you haven't been able to get a tutor yet." He went on. Again Sakura just shrugged. It was true, Minato had been unable to find a teacher, all the good ones were too busy and the newest doctors didn't have enough experience to be a teacher. The old man hid a smile under his hand as he pretended to swipe his mouth. She wouldn't have to worry about that much longer, he, Kushina and Minato had already found the perfect person to become the young girl's teacher and had a plan to trick them into it. Even though her parents had informed him that the girl had no idea Jiraiya still did played his tricks on her. It was just a bit of fun messing with people when you were trying to throw them of course when they were up to them; not to mention a very old habit. As the clock struck eight, both children suddenly disappeared from the table to get their school stuff ready.

"Dude I'm telling you it's a beetle!" Kiba shouted at the knuckle head and even snarled a little like an angry dog would do.

"No! It's too big to be a beetle, it's a cockroach!" Naruto yelled back, getting a little frustrated himself. The rest of the group just sighed and watched the show. It had started ten minutes ago when the Hyuga heiress noticed an insect crawling up the side of the tree she was sitting next to it and screamed. Somehow from that it had turned into a debate between Naruto and Kiba over what kind of bug it was. Sakura couldn't really blame her friend for crying out, she wasn't exactly a big fan of bugs herself. She like spiders though, she liked the skill they had into weaving their nests.

"It's a Scarabaeus viettei actually." A soft, quiet voice spoke out of nowhere that some of the group wasn't sure if it had just been their imagination at first. Looking around, their eyes finally lay rest on another boy from their class called Shino, who always wore dark sun glasses and had his jacket down up all the way to his nose; in a weird way it reminded both Sakura and Naruto of their older brother.

"A Scara what?" Naruto questioned, a little bit lost of what of the strange words that formed from the boy's mouth. The boy suddenly went a bit stiff, like he had suddenly realised he had just spoken out. Quickly, he seemed to gather up his nerves and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Simply speaking it's a type of beetle." He informed them.

"Ha! I told you Naruto!" Kiba grinned wolfishly at the blonde, the expression of gloat all over his face.

"Shut up dog boy!" The blonde shouted back at him. Time for me to step in! Sakura thought to herself, seeing that they were just about to jump into a fight and at the same time punched them both in the head. Both of the boys sunk to the floor and held their heads were a lump was beginning to form. Before anything else could happen, the sound of a whistle was heard, meaning it was time to go back to class. All of the children started heading in the direction of the noise to get into their lines. Realising that Shino wasn't following, Sakura turned around to see the boy holding his hand out to the tree. She was just close enough to see the bug crawl up on to his skin and disappear underneath his coat.

After witnessing that display, Sakura couldn't take her eyes off the boy. She didn't really know Shino that was and had never once talked to him. The only things she did know of him was that he was quite intelligent from the answers she had heard him give in class and seemed a bit of a loner. Now a new curiosity was growing inside her as she watched him carefully. Why was he such a loner? Why did he always wear that high chin coat? What was he hiding? The questions haunted her mind for the rest of the school day. As soon as the bell went off and Iruka sensei dismissed them, the boy was out of the class room faster than a race dog; she had never known how fast he was before. There was no chance to catch up with him as the students blocked the steps and her friends held her back to talk to them. Once outside, Sakura could not seem him in the clearing. However, it turned out Shino had not been the only one to spike up her interest.

"Sakura look!" Naruto yelled, tugging on the sleeve of her shirt and pointed her towards the trees. She looked up fast enough to see the back of Shino disappearing into the shade of the forest. "Let's follow him!" The blonde cheered and raced after him before she could answer. Chasing after him, brother and sister ran over to the area to catch up with their class mate. Using their ninja skills to use, they took to the trees, gliding through the air as they jumped from branch to branch. They found their class mate crouching beside a bush. It strangely looked like he was talking to someone but he was speaking so quietly that the children could not pick up what he was saying. Not even Naruto, who had super hearing skills thanks to the fox demon.

"I know you're up there!" Shino voice called up to them. Both of them sent glances of warnings to each other, blaming each other for giving away their position before jumping down to reveal themselves.

"Spill dude how did you know we were up there." Naruto loud voice boomed around the area, scaring off a bird in a nearby tree. Shine just looked at them before holding out his hands. In the pale hands were hundreds of different bugs crawling around his skin. The pink haired girl wasn't usually a fun of bugs but something about the unnatural way they moved made her lean forward to examine them better. "Dude! That. Is. So. COOL!" Naruto jumped and clapped cheerfully as he stared in amazement. Cool wasn't the best word she would of used but there was defiantly something about this that made it interesting to say the least.

"They should be Naruto as the Aburame Clan is a very respected among the village." The familiar voice of the Hokage made the children jump. Spinning around, they saw the man approach with another person behind him that looked actually like Shino just much older. Now that she thought about it, the name Aburame did seem to ring a bell from some of the medical texts she had read.

"Dad you finished early today!" Naruto smiled gleefully and danced around the man happily.

"It's a good thing that I bumped into Shino's dad otherwise I wouldn't have a way of finding were you guys disappeared to." Minato answered smiling as well but it sounded like it was covering up something; worry perhaps? Sakura didn't like that idea one bit.

Later on that night, when the children were in bed, another set of cloaked visitors travelled through the rain and up the shadowed cover path to the house. Opening the door, Kushina greeted them with a giant smile and gestured them into the house. Walking into the kitchen where Jiraiya and Minato sat, the two cloak figures removed their hoods to reveal the two figures to be Tsunade and Shizune.

"You ladies are back early." Jiraiya grinned but there was a hint of amusement of his voice that sent a chill down his old team mate's spine. Uh oh! Were the two words that boomed in her head, what was he up to? "Don't happen to be running away from a lot of debt are you." The giant man grinned and lay back in his chair, trying to put hide the look of undignified satisfaction on his face behind a mask of innocents; she was so going to kill him.

"Tsunade is this true!" Minato demanded to know. Oh yes, Jiraiya was so going to pay for this.

"Just a small one." Tsunade tried to insist but her team mate just burst into laughter. It was satisfying at least to see her red haired friend slap him around the head to be quiet since his laugh was loud enough to scare away the birds and the bees in a five mile radius; she didn't want to risk him waking the children.

"Small, I never figured twenty million yen was a small amount." The old toad sage tried to keep his self-restraint but failed miserably. Even Minato, the leader of the hidden leaf, could not hold in his surprise as he dropped his cup of tea on to the floor. Meanwhile, Kushina continued cleaning the dishes. Jiraiya had informed her of the situation the on his arrival when the children had been upstairs cleaning themselves up. A plan had already begun to form in her head and she knew that Tsunade would have no choice but to accept it.


	17. Tutoring

_Sakura was having the most frightening experience. She was in the main family bedroom but instead of the beautiful decorations, bright sunshine and clean smell it was completely the opposite. All the furniture was destroy in some way, covered in blood and dirt or completely smashed to bits, there was something blocking the windows so no light was getting in and smell was so overwhelming that she could feel herself almost fainting. But none of these things was what scared her. A heavily pregnant Kushina lay on the bed chained to the bed post, fighting against the constraints she screamed in agony. Blood poured out between the woman's legs, leaking from the bed on to the floor. Sakura stood frozen to the spot, she didn't know what to do she was completely… _

Boom! The sound startled the young girl from her sleep and sent her rolling out bed and on to the floor, ending up trapped in her covers. She struggled within the restraints but failed to push herself free. It wasn't until she felt a slight pressure on her stomach which suddenly pushed her so she went tumbling out of the material was she able to see her room again.

"Get washed and dressed! We've got training!" Tsunade's voice boomed across the room. Sakura sat in the spot she had stopped in and stared at the woman, her brain was not use to this unusual morning activity and was having trouble trying to get the information to process properly through her head.

"Training?" Was the only thing she was able to say after a while. It was the first word that managed to echo through her head. Why would they be training this early on a Saturday?

"Yes, your parents have decided I should tutor you." The woman informed her. Though, the decision was more enforced then decided. She thought she saw the scheming look on Kushina's face when she directed them into the kitchen but had only seen for it for a spilt second as the woman went to do the dishes and had her back to her. In her defence though, she would of never of seen it coming. Kushina and Jiraiya working together; it was just too unnatural to ever consider the possibility. But still it had happened and because of her terrible gambling skills and Kushina's sneaking ways, she had been bullied into this tutoring job. Still it could have been worse; she could have been giving sponge baths to her pervy teammate to pay off her deep debts. It took a while to realise what the older woman was finally saying and quickly jumped to her feet to follow the woman's orders.

Sakura had never felt so excited. Finally, someone was going to teach her how to do more complex medical jutsu's, just think of how many shinobi she could save in the battlefields. Not to mention it was Tsunade that was teaching her, Tsunade! She was the greatest medic that ever existed and she was going to be training under her. Finally finished, she followed the older woman closely, like a little puppy following its mother. They went into the garden and Sakura examined the area, thinking she would see a work table for them to be working at but instead saw a whole line of unusual equipment instead. Her tutor directed her to stand on one side of the line while she stood on the other. The older woman picked up a baseball bat and began twirling it between her fingers.

"Now Sakura, can you tell me what a medical ninja's first job is?" The older woman asked, her eyes concreting on the young girl standing before her but she still played with the bat with little effort. Well that's easy! Sakura thought to herself.

"A medical ninja's job is to focus on healing her team mates in battle…"

"Wrong!" Tsunade interrupted making Sakura come to a complete standstill. Wrong! How could she be wrong? If that was incorrect then she found it hard to think of an answer that was right. When the silence continued and it was clear that the pink girl could not come up with another answer, her teacher finally thought it was time to tell her. "A medic's job is to dodge; you can't heal your team if you're already dead." When she said it, the idea made complete sense. Sakura felt her cheeks turn bright red from embarrassment, her first lesson and she was already failing.

"So what are all these for?" The girl dared to question as her eyes wondered down to the strange objects lying along the floor. They were all bags that looked like they had some kind of substance in them and when she poked it with her big toe it wobbled slightly; she had a very bad feeling about this?

"I want to see how good your dodging is." The older woman smirked and now swung the bat over her shoulder. Oh crap! Sakura's eyes widen in horror as her sensei picked up the first lot and aimed it at her. Sakura was fast for her age, everyone always admired her talent. However, with all her talent and training there was no way she could easily out run this Sanni's increase taijutsu as she dived and dodge as if her life depended on it.

A few hours later, Sakura was still in her room with an ice-pack strapped around her ankle. She had twisted it while trying to dodge one of Tsunade's paint balls. At first she had done well to power through it but then her teacher had noticed that her ankle was double the size it should have been and glowing red. Learning hurts! Sakura thought miserably to herself, as she lay tucked into bed. Naruto had not made the situation any better when he came in earlier to rub it in her face, neither did she have anything to throw at him to get him to get him to shut up. As soon as she was able to walk again she was going to seriously hurt him. To pass the time she played with her doll, brushing her hair and redressed her as she had just recently found out that she could reverse the same dress to get two different styles. Half way through brushing her dolls hair the door opened and she looked up to see Tsunade entre the room, carrying a tray of food with her.

"Here's lunch." Tsunade sang happily as she placed the tray in front of her before finally realising the dolls existence. "When did you get that?" The older woman asked, admiring it from where she stood.

"Jiraiya got it as a gift from his travels." Sakura answered, handing the doll to the older woman so she could get a better look at it. After a quick examination, she handed the doll back to her.

"I always forget that he's an amazing present giver." The woman smiled and the look on her face told the pink girl that she was thinking of an old memory that she shouldn't know but back at the time she had accidently absorbed memories at Naruto's birthday party. She had forgotten an important piece of information until now and debated with herself whether she could tell the woman that she knew but in the end needed to know the truth.

"Tsunade when did you overcome your fear of blood." The comment was blunt and to the point and the woman just looked at her like she was crazy or something. But after a while the woman was able to absorb it and process the information in her head, thinking it through before finally settling down next to the girl, making herself comfortable as she shuffled herself next to the young girl and wrapped an arm around her students shoulder.

"It was the night Naruto was born, I had frozen on the spot when Kushina started bleeding, thankfully there was another woman there who was insane enough to slap me around the face and knock some sense back into me." The woman smiled at the memory but Sakura couldn't help but wince. Never could she imagine someone smacking the medic across the face. "I've met a lot of people in my life Sakura but I think out of all of them she was the bravest ninja I had ever met." Tsunade continued to smile. Wow! Sakura thought to herself, unable to find the words to describe how she felt. This woman that the medic spoke of had to be someone amazing to earn the respect of this woman. All of a sudden, Sakura realised that she had a new goal in life. No matter what, she was going to be even greater than the kunoichi the medic spoke about; not matter what it took.

By Monday, Sakura's ankle was back to full health and in class with her friends, trying to help Choji with a math equation that he was having problems solving. Iruka sensei sat in the front at his desk, using the few spare moments he had while he waited for the children to finish their work to mark a few papers. Everyone was wearing their winter clothes, even though the heating was on full blast, the powerful chill outside was still somehow getting in and everyone was forced to wear their jackets with the zips done up all the way to their chins. After five minutes of explaining how to rearrange an equation to equal y they had finally managed to get through all the equations. Now they just had to wait for the class to finish, so they had all the time in the world to do whatever they wanted.

"I need to give you guys these." Hinata smiled shyly, as she handed out cards. They were all white with purple flowers decorating the edges. Tearing open the envelopes, the children absorbed the information inside. It was a jungle themed party for Hinata's tenth birthday; they would all be going to the zoo that was just a few miles outside the city walls. Until now the pink haired girl had never known the village had a zoo close by and was excited. She had only seen exotic animals from her books but now she could actually going to see them live; plus they were getting their faces painted.

"Wow! Thanks Hinata!" Nauto shouted out happily before tucking the invitation safely into his bag. It was only then that Sakura realised that apart from Naruto's birthday party this was the second party she had ever been too. Not only was she so excited anymore but she was nervous as well. It would be exciting to see a loin; they were only seen near the rainforests of the Moon country. The more she thought about it the more excited she got and soon her nerves quickly disappeared again. Though she hoped the adults would be okay. It was Christmas Eve, then Christmas and then Boxing Day soon. She had heard that adults go crazy around this time of year and got hung over. Imagine adults going through three party day of the year and then taking on a birthday party with crazy kids; well at least they wouldn't have to worry much about Shikamaru and his lazy attitude. The children could not stop talking about it for the rest of the day; they even got in trouble a couple of times for talking when Iruka was trying to teach the class but the students couldn't help it. As it had recently been discovered that most of the group had not been to a zoo before in their lives since it was quite and expensive place, apart from Kiba who got some visits because his sister was a vet and helped out there sometimes. In the end, all seven of them had to stay behind in class for half an hour.

Relax, direct all your energy into that spot! Sakura mentally told herself as she focused her charka into the scale. Her hands glowed emerald over the still fish, willing the deep scar in its side to mend together bit by bit. It was almost like stitching up a piece of material, connecting the fabrics of scales together one at a time. But it was a little more difficult than sowing. They were many layers that had to be knitted back together, the veins that had been slice open, the muscles that had been torn apart and then finally the outer layer of skin was the final piece. It wasn't as easy as mending a broken bone. With bones all you had to do was place them back together like you would a jigsaw puzzle. When it came to healing torn flesh, you had to fight against the body's natural impulses and get the surrounding cells to listen to you and do what you say. The process required a lot more concentration, charka and patience; it was so much harder. What seemed like a million years was only a couple of seconds as she finally finished.

"Well done, I've never seen someone learn so quickly." Her tutor smiled down at her while Sakura wiped away the sweat from her head. Seeing that fish move around lively, the young apprentice picked the wiggling creature up and placed him back in the fish bowl. "Just a few more practices and we'll move you on to the next level."

"Let's try another one then!" Sakura called out excitedly, even though her body was exhausted from school and extra braining her mind fuelled her with positive energy. If she was going to be just as good as the warrior woman Tsunade had mentioned she needed to practice! Practice! Practice! On the other hand, her tutor did not seem as enthusiastic.

"I think that's enough today, you've practiced with seven fish, most students can barely get passed two… I don't want to push you any further." The woman decided. The young girl wanted to object but then the growling of her stomach kicked in and she was once again reminded just how tired she was. In the end the girl settled with a miserable pout. All this caused Tsunade to laugh at her and ordered her to go and sit down for a while to rest.

The children formed around Kiba and the small figure he held in his hands, it was the first time he had brought his partner, Akamaru, to meet them outside for the first time. The puppy that Kiba held in his hands was a year old but Sakura found it very odd that her dog wasn't even one yet and he was much larger. Apparently when he was a few years older he'd grow to about one hundred and thirty cm; it was very hard to believe. Nevertheless he was very cute and Inuzuka seemed to dote on him like he was a baby that needed extra attention all the time. It was nearly evening but because it wasn't a school night the children were allowed some extra time in the park and Kiba had brought his partner with him so he wouldn't have his mum keep barking at him because she thought the two of them played too much instead of training. Sakura had only had a brief encounter with his mum for a minute or two one day after school once; she had no plans to meet her anytime soon.

"He's .. v-very adorable Kiba." Hinata whispered as she shyly held her hand out for the animal to sniff. The dog took a long time placing his tiny black nose in her hand and sniffed every inch on her palm before finally deciding it was fine and giving it a gentle lick with his small pink tongue.

"He's not adorable! He's a boy at least cool him handsome or something." The boy snarled but his dog didn't seem to care and was just happy with all the attention he was receiving. It wasn't just the children that were interesting. Sakura could feel Tomi trying to stand up on his back legs and using her for support as his nose reached up high as possible to small the air around the other dog. After examining the people around him, Akamaru finally looked down at Tomi and snarled. Not liking the reaction, her dog quickly snapped back and barked madly at him. For some reason, the ten year olds couldn't help but sense a bitch fight happening between them. It would have started off with something like Kiba's animal telling off Sakura's pet for arguing with him since he was older and then Tomi would have retorted with the fact that he was much bigger than him. The whole thing would have been hilarious if it didn't look like they were about to kill each other. As the two children spilt into two teams to play tug of war with the animal's collars to stop them attacking each other, it was clear that these two animals would not be good friends.

Later that night, the whole family (including the dogs and some of the small toads) were in the living room all together. It was quite chaotic with Tsunade threatening to kill Jiraiya, the dogs fighting for either Sakura or Kakashi attention and Naruto and his father were playing with the frogs. Somehow through all the madness, Shizune was able to sit in her seat and read a romance novel she had recently brought peacefully, while the rest of the room sounded like a war zone. In a strange way, Sakura could understand why her aunt was able to ignore Jiraiya and Tsunade childish bickering but the yapping dogs and crazy laughter; really? Which is why she was later surprised when she sensed something wrong with Kushina in the kitchen and through all the madness, Shizune was able to sense something wrong as well as she snapped the book shut and her systems were high alert. Jumping to their feet, the medic headed straight to the kitchen, while the young girl grabbed Minato's hand through the chaos and yanked on it hard to get his attention.

"Something's wrong with Kushina!" Sakura cried out in a panic, sending the whole room into still silence. It was only a spilt second later that everyone jumped into action and headed towards the kitchen where Shizune was on the floor nearly next to Kushina who was lying unconscious on the floor.

The children refused to go home as they were too worried about their mother to leave her at the hospital. First Jiraiya tried to order them to bed but Naruto just said he would expose the amount of porn magazines he had hidden in the secret compartment of his wardrobe, which shut him up. Then Kakashi tried by threaten to throw both of them over his shoulder and drag them home unwillingly back home but they just reminded him of the incident with his romance novel and that made him quiet. In all honesty, the two ten year olds couldn't see how sleep would help them; they were too scared and couldn't imagine leaving their mum alone in this place. Their last obstacle was Minato. He had been sitting opposite them with his head in his hands. From out of nowhere, Sakura grabbed her brother's hand and held it tightly. She was glad to feel the blonde squeeze it slightly in response. They were both scared but they knew they had each other. Finally looking up, the Hokage noticed his children's presence and saw how tightly they clung to each other as if holding on for dear life. The children were prepared to stand up to their dad since they had no threats to use against them to make them stay. They held their breath as he examined them. All of a sudden, he raised his arms out to them.

"Give your old man a hug." He tried to smile but it wouldn't reach his eyes. It was then that they realised that the Hokage, the most powerful ninja in the land of fire, was just as terrified as them. Wasting no seconds the children ran to him and embraced them as he wrapped the small children up in his long arms and held them close. They stayed like that for a long time until they heard the clicking sounds of Tsunade heels against the floor.

Usually when the old medic had to give news to a family she would keep her face expressionless. But right now she could not keep the cheesy smile off her face as she left the room and went off to search for her family. Even when she found out that the hospital had not been bothered to switch some of the faulty medical equipment it could not completely get rid of the good feeling she had floating around her chest (though she was seriously going to make some of the staff regret tomorrow) in fact for some reason she felt like skipping but was able to suppress the need. When she turned the corner she saw five panicked expressions looking back at her.

"Congratulations!" She beamed happily and everyone looked at her like she was crazy but she didn't care; just wait until they heard the news. "Kushina's having twins!"

**Since the votes were 50/50 I had no choice but to make the decision that Kushina should have twins (I am all secretly proud of you for making me do that :) ) anyway there will be another vote about which teams I should put the rookie nine in, so get your thinking caps on and if you have any suggesting for me to consider don't be afraid to comment but the official vote won't happen for another few chapters. Anyway keep enjoying the story, love, x0Hannah0x**


	18. Partners and Assignments

The children stared at the screen a little confused. They tilted their heads to the right and then to the left but still they could not find an angle that worked. Even Sakura, who was the most informed about how babies were made and formed, had trouble believing the image. But they weren't the only ones. Just behind them Jiraiya and Kakashi were trying to work out the moving image in front of them but failed to make out any specific features. All the other adults, Minato, Kushina and Tsunade watched in an amusement. They didn't find the pictures so confusing since they had seen these kinds of pictures before. It seemed to be nearly eternity before the four confused people gave up.

"They look weird." Naruto spoke out, earning him a slap on the head from his sister.

"Don't say that Naruto they are still at an early development stage!" Sakura told him off even though she secretly shared his confusion. It looked like a lump was starting to form on his head. Since they were standing right behind the children the two adults could see it and took a large step back. They sighed in despair, the girl had spent less than a week training under Tsunade and already a mini version of herself was being created; However, Tsunade looked smitten with pride.

"Don't worry sweetheart, when they're a little older they'll look clearer." Kushina gave her son a small encouraging smile and held her hand out to him. In a flash, Naruto was beside her, holding her hand. Looking back at the screen, the young girl gave the twins another look. She could make out some features of the two foetus but nothing stood out as human shaped. Did I look like that once? Sakura wondered, a shaken for some reason. After a few moments of staring, she gave up. Deciding she give them a few more months of development before looking at them again.

The next week, Sakura and Naruto were in school listening to Iruka explain the second shinobi war. For once the hyperactive blonde was sitting still and actually doing what he was told and taking notes, as was everyone else in the classroom as no one wanted to be stuck doing homework over the Christmas holidays. They had one more week of school left before they had some time off and everyone was excited. Though for some reason Sakura was finding it hard to concentrate. She didn't know what it was but she couldn't help but feel someone was staring at her. Her head shot up, trying to catch someone among the sea of faces but no eyes caught hers. Attempting to shake the feeling off, she focused all her attention on listening to her sensei and tried to write down what he was writing. But still she could not shake the feeling. She just wanted this damn lesson to end. When Iruka finally finished talking, the young girl could feel her muscles itching to leave the room.

"Now students, let's discuss your assignments." The teacher smiled and a mixer of gasps of shock, disappointed moans and outbursts of outrage followed among the crowds of children. This just seemed to please the chunin more; teachers had a sick sense of humour. After Iruka quieten the class, he scrubbed the board clean of his old notes and wrote one word 'Heroes' on the black screen. "You with placed with a partner and together you must create a presentation about a hero, doesn't matter if they're from a different land, myth or family member, as long as you are able to show how they inspire you…" From then on he went on to explain what they would need for the work and gave examples. Sakura listen with little interest as the hairs tickling the back of her neck distracted her.

"Can the hero be a storybook character?" Naruto asked out of interest, his usual bored expression suddenly alert.

"Aw! Does little Naruto still live in fairy tale land?" Kiba teased and on his head, his partner, Akamaru howled with laughter, followed by a few other sniggers followed around the class.

"Shut up dog boy! I was only asking!" The knucklehead shouted back and stuck out his tongue. Crack! Both boys turned their heads and looked at the pink haired girl who was playing with her knuckles. It had been a perfectly innocent act as she only did it to keep her hands busy while she waited for the boys to stop yelling or waited for the teacher to sort them out. But to others, the gestured seemed threatening. Especially to her close friends who had spared with her and knew that she could throw a mean punch when she was angry. They had taken the hand movements as a warning and both sank back into their seats, hopefully that their sudden quietness had saved them from a beaten. Men! Sakura shook her head in disappointment but could not help showing the smirk of amusement on her face.

"Yes Naruto you can use fictional characters if you want to." Iruka answered, simple ignoring the short shouting contest, since it had disappeared so quickly. Bringing out a piece of paper from his pocket and began reading out the list of partners. One by one, Sakura's friends names were called out, either teamed up with other members of the class or with each other. Kina got placed with a pretty girl called Ino, the same girl who had tried to warn her about the big girl in front of the toilets and also one of Sasukes puppy dog followers. Kiba sent her a funny look (which turned out to be a flirtatious look) and the girl shot him down with a nasty look. The pink haired girl found the list stupid. Why couldn't they just pick their own partners? When her sensei read off Naruto and Hinata name off the list, she was the last one left which a partner. "Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha…" The man called out and continued sorting out the other members of the class. He did not notice the sudden tense atmosphere that had fallen among the students. You can't be serious! Sakura brain was able to produce, turning around to face him, green orbs looking into dark eyes, locked in fierce combat.

"What you looking Pinkie?" The boy grimaced, his eyebrows knotted together into a frown.

"Your awful chicken butt hair cut!" She retorted and did her signature 'in your face' expression. The Uchiha frown deepen at the insult and Sakura could not help but feel a burst of triumphant that she was able to break through his emotional hold.

"Ha! Take that Loser!" Naruto grinned and both brother and sister fist pumped each other in triumphant. This act of fellowship between the two seemed to annoy the Uchiha boy even more which gave the two greater satisfaction. Who knew annoying someone could be so much fun? Apart from Kakashi of course.

"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke hissed back, his body shaped into the form of a snake, who felt very threaten. Sakura suddenly had a bad feeling. Her grandfather had always said that an animal backed into a corner was always unpredictable and always dangerous.

"Shut up teme!" The blonde snapped back, his teeth showing like an angry fox; the nine tail fox.

"Just ignore in Naruto." Sakura whispered as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back into his seat. His eyes snapped to her and she let out a loud gasp. It was only a spilt second… maybe even less than that, but nevertheless she had seen it; he had the fox's eyes! They returned to their usual baby blue, filled with worry as he noticed the look of horror on her face. They tried to act normal as they settled back into their seats and resumed back to their lesson. They weren't supposed to talk about the demon fox in public so would have to wait until they got home to talk to their parents. But the whole class knew something was up when they saw how stiff the two went.

"I DON'T WANT TO GO TO BED!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs as he made a run for it. It was all Kakashi fault. He was supposed to be baby sitting as the older people went out to some fancy gala and ten minutes before bed time Naruto had asked if he could have some coke cola. As usual the copy-nin had his head in a book and muttered something that sounded like a yes. Sakura couldn't believe it had only taken a few sips and the hyperactive knucklehead went off like a rocket. The duo had spent the rest of their time trying to catch him and destroy probably half the house in the process. Minato and Kushina are not going to be happy about this! Sakura thought as she lunged forward to try and ruby tackle her brother but the boy had already jumped out of the way and Sakura went crashing on to the floor. Ow! Sakura thought stunned for a second before jumping back to her feet and running after him. She chased him back into the living room, where she saw a dark shadow loom over the boy. Before she had a chance to take it, Kakashi slammed on top of the boy and went rolling, knocking over anything that just too happened to be in the way.

"You're going to bed even if I have to chain you to it!" The silver head man cursed and was deadly serious as he brought out ninja wire from his pocket. But the ten year old wasn't going down without a fight and tried to wiggle free of his captures hold. Unluckily for Kakashi, Naruto had managed to grab a wooden sword that must have fallen out of the toy chest and started beaten his older brother on the head with it. Sakura came to the rescue and grabbed on to the loose arm trying to hold it steady as the jonin proceeded in tying the boy up. It wasn't like she had found this humane or anything but she couldn't think of any way to stop this mad rampage.

"What is going on?" A loud voice boomed across the floor. All three of them stopped what they were doing instantly. Looking up to see the rest of the family had arrived home.

"DOWN WITH BED TIME!" Naruto shouted out and was able to wiggle his arm free from Sakura's hold and hit Kakashi on the head, this time it was hard enough to knock him unconscious; at least he wasn't stuck answering uncomfortable questions.

Everyone around here looks… the same! Sakura kept to herself as she passed every member of the clan. Well they weren't actually the same but they had a lot of significant features that was almost the same. Every single person she saw had shades of brown hair, dark eyes and pale skin. She didn't know why she was so shocked, she had been to the Hyuga compound before and they had features that were almost identical to each other but she had thought that was just had something to do with their blood line. Then again, maybe the rumours that Kakashi had mentioned about the Byakugan might have been derived from the Sharingan. It also annoyed her that it made her stick out like a sore thumb. With her creamy complexion, bright green eyes and bubble gum hair she got a lot of looks from everyone she passed; it was more uncomfortable than usual. What made it worse was that she was lost! It would be easy just to use her power and search him out but she didn't like using it and decided to try and find it on her own first. She would have to stop and ask for directions.

"Excu…" Before she was even finished the guy brushed her aside like she was a speck of dirt on his shirt. Irritated, she stuck her tongue at him and went on her way. She asked five more people after that but got the same response. So it's just not Sasuke, everyone's a stuck up prick, Sakura sighed in frustration.

"You lost their little lady." A friendly voice called out. Finally! She thought and turned to the direction of the voice. An old man on a ladder who looked like he was in the middle of a banner above his shop. He was well into his forties with a huge jaw line framed with a wide, cheery smile and narrow sparkly dark eyes.

"I'm trying to find Sasuke Uchiha's house, do you know where it is?" She asked, adjusting the strap of her bag. Inside it contain everything she thought they would be for their assignment since she doubted whether the Uchiha would be willing to share what was needed. The man gave a low chuckle, which just confused her even more.

"Ah you must be one of Sasuke's fan girls." The man laughed. Sakura didn't mean to be rude but you couldn't help but gag at that moment. One of Sasuke fan girls! She had never felt more insulted in her life.

"Ew no! I'm just here because we got partnered on an assignment together." She replied, holding up the letter Iruka had handed out to inform parents that wished to help with the project certain information. Climbing down from his ladder, the older man took the letter and read it.

"Well that's a first." The man smiled as he handed back the letter to her. Folding the contents back into her pocket, she looked over his shoulder to see what was in the shop window.

"What's a Senbei?" She questioned, a little confused; she had never heard of them before.

"You don't know what a Senbei is?" He replied in mixed shock and amusement. "Uruchi! Bring out a batch of senbei will you!" He called over to the shop. Soon a woman with a plump face and kind smile popped her head out of the shop entrance and made her way over.

"My dear, why do you sound so urgent?" The woman questioned with a little concern on her face but mostly curiosity as she approached the two of them.

"This girl claims she doesn't know what a senbei is and I think it is our duty to sort that!" The man informed them, as if he was a commanding officer giving orders but in a funny way. Both Sakura and the shop keeper's wife tried to hide their giggles from him.

"Here you go dearie." The older woman offered as she leaned over to make the tray visible for the pink haired girl to see and to reach. She had to admit; whatever they were they sure smelled good. Carefully, she picked up on one of them and took a large bite. Yum! Sakura thought as she took another bite from the food. It was kind of like a rice cake but slightly different, though she couldn't put her finger on it. "Honey I think we have a new customer." The woman beamed and Sakura could do nothing but nod in agreement as she was too busy devouring the delicious food. Remembering her manners, she searched her money purse.

"Here you go." Sakura handed out some money to the two older folks.

"No dear keep your money, this one is on the house." The older man smiled and his wife nodded in agreement.

"Wow thanks!" The ten year old beamed and took another tasty bite out of her treat. At first she thought the idea impossible but there were actually some nice people who lived among the Uchiha's, not to mention they made some delicious food.

"Now. You said you were on your way to Sasuke's house?" The old man asked, returning to the conversation before Sakura got distracted by senbei. Again she nodded, her tongue numb with delight. The man was kind enough to give her clear directions to the house. With much thanks, she began running to the house, shouting over her shoulder that she would be back tomorrow for more of their senbei.

Knock, knock, knock! Sakura stepped back and waited for someone to answer. The door was almost answered instantly when she heard the tapping of wooden sandals against the hard floor. The door swished open and an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, wearing a purple dress with an apron over the top revealed herself.

"Hello Mrs Uchiha, is Sasuke home?" She bowed respectfully to the older woman. Though she found it all stupid, her father instructed her that Sasuke fathers was the head of the clan and needed to be polite as he was an important to the village, that and he didn't want any bad behaviour she showed be reflected off on him. For some reason she was beginning to think that she was the only hope that the family might have some normality to it; she didn't know why since she doubted she was even normal in the first place.

"Well hello, you must be Sakura! We've been expecting you!" The lady of the house smiled warmly and stepped back to let her in. Stepping inside, Sakura was led through the house. It was almost like a tour by the way the older woman talked about the history of some of the items hanging up on the wall. The woman was awfully nice in and even offered her something to eat and drink. Politely, she refused as the senbei on the way here had filled her up. The woman led her to one of the back rooms, where Sasuke was sitting at a table, reading through a book. "Sasuke, your friend is here." The woman greeted. Looking up, Sasuke's face was expressionless. But as soon as his mother left the room it became a mixer of annoyance and boredom.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up." He exclaimed pointing to the wall. Following his line of eye sight, she found the clock ticking on the wall. It was seven minutes passed one; she was seven minutes late. To her it wasn't such a big deal but then again this was Sasuke Uchiha. Taking a deep breath, she quickly counted to ten to help burn off some frustration that was rising in her chest.

"Let's get this over with." Before he could protest she sat down in the place opposite him and dug three massive volumes out. "The Hokage let me borrow these history books and this one's on myths and legends; I thought they might be helpful." Watching her study partner, she watched him eye each book before taking one and opening it one to the first page. After a few silent moments, he made a noise that sounded like approval.

"What do you suppose we do?" He asked though she could sense it took a lot of effort to ask.

"I thought divide and conquer, I take one book and you another, read through and if we find one interesting we could have a debate about it." She shrugged as she suggested the idea. It seemed like the easiest idea so far since none of them had a clue who they wanted to do the presentation about. The Uchiha grunted in response and began reading, so Sakura just took it as a yes. Though a minute or two into the research and they began arguing.


	19. Hot Chocolate

The arguments between Sasuke and Sakura did not get any better. Not one of them could decide who they wanted and it was clear they had two different types of heroes. The Uchiha was determined to pick someone who shared his own blood line, grew up in the Uchiha compound and very powerful. Sakura was more willing to look among other ninja's from other villages, she even found a few people who had managed to end wars through peaceful protest and thought they seemed pretty cool but no, why should we write about someone who had no loyalty to Konohagakure? Though his partner believed that he just didn't want to pick someone who didn't have the sharingan because he was a stuck up dick. They only had two days left in their project and they still hadn't made a progress.

"We need a new plan?" Sakura sighed one day as she placed the book down. With his head deeply buried in his own book, he was either really interested in something or was just plainly annoying her. It wasn't until she flicked a large senbei crumb at his head that he finally looked at her.

"What?" He grumbled from where she sat, his dark eyes glaring at her over the top of his book.

"I said we need a new plan." She repeated to him but by the look on his face she wasn't sure if he had absorbed any information.

"You didn't think that three days ago." He muttered under his breath and this time Sakura threw something much bigger at his head that really got his attention and left a small bump growing on his head. The girl didn't really care if anymore would question her later; the look she got on his face was so worth it. Maybe if he was a little nicer later she might heal the bump away.

"I don't see you offering any great ideas!" She snapped at him and the blank expression that was left on his face told her that he couldn't really retort back to that. Another battle she had won and was going to keep winning. They remained silent for a while and since Sasuke didn't look like he was going to offer any ideas to her she decided to try. "Why don't we pick three of our favourites and place them in a hat, mix them around and pick on out?" She suggested but Sasuke didn't sound so convinced by it.

"Sounds a little flaky to me." The Uchiha muttered under his breath. Sakura's head snapped up and glared at him right in the eyes. With all her might, the young girl was hoping that he was not suggesting that she would rig the vote otherwise she might have to kill him right there and then. Personally she didn't really want to do it in his own house with his parents and brother just down stairs; it was an illogical move to make.

In the end, the Uchiha really had no choice but to go with Sakura's idea since they found no other option into solving the matter. But as a way to make the choice fair, they decided that Iruka sensei should pick the name out of the hat since he was the most neutral person they could choose. So at the end of the school at, the two students placed three of their favourite candidates into the hat and watched their teacher mix the names around and finally picked done out. The tension that sat between the two students as the waited, it was agonising to wait.

"Akari Mori!" Iruka read out and Sakura jumped into the air, punching her fist in the air in a triumphant matter. The girl couldn't wait to get started on the project, the woman that had been chosen was amazing and she couldn't wait to get started. However, Sasuke didn't seem too happy about.

"Man up Uchiha" She smiled, punching him lightly in the shoulder but it did little to lighten his mood at all, in fact it only made it worse.

"Hn." He grunted and left.

Men! Sakura sighed as she made her way to the Uchiha compound, with information she had gathered from the library. Since Sasuke had stormed off in a huff, it gave the young girl some time to research on her chosen candidate. Akari Mori was a kunochi from the hidden leaf village. During the first shinobi war she and her small squadron had held off a huge invasion force, giving enough time for a the children in a nearby orphanage to escape. It had been a risky and bold to make but she was so well respected and fearless that her men stood beside her all the way. They shouldn't have been able to survive that long but against all odds they had managed to battle all the odds with little casualties. It was something that had gone down in Konohagakure history and even rumoured to put an end to the war.

A little way up the road, she walked by the fishing river. It was the longest way to the Uchiha compound but the girl liked the tranquillity the water surface vibrated off of it. Though she was shocked to find Sasuke standing on one of the fishing piers. Stopping in her tracks, she sat herself down from her high spot and watched him carefully. His focused was on the view in front of him, as if he was trying to figure out something in his head. She waited, she waited and she waited. Nothing! Checking her watch about fifteen minutes had passed. How can someone just stand there and stare? Sakura wondered. As she waited she tried to assess what he could be doing. Maybe this is where all Uchiha's come to practice on their emotionless stare? The pinked haired girl wondered to herself but then thought against it since it didn't look like his usual face. Just as she was about to give up and throw something at his head, Sasuke quickly made hand signs and held on to his mouth. Before she could take in what was going on he blew fire out of his mouth. She made an impressive wolf whistle in response; close but not close enough. She knew before he did that he had put too much charka into his ninjutsu.

Beforehand, Kakashi and Minato had given the children on how essential it was to perform a fire breathing correctly and had even given a demonstration, giving pointers to look for on the flames to know if someone was doing it properly. The reason she could tell Sasuke's jutsu wasn't a hundred per cent because the colour of the flame was too orange and the shape that the fire formed was to bushy. Sakura had to use all her might not to laugh as he started jumping around and fanning his tongue. Suppressing the urge she leaped up from her spot and went to go and help him.

"Will you stop dancing around like a crazy chicken for ten seconds?" Sakura shouted at him when she approached. Probably the only reason the Uchiha stopped was because he was surprised to see her there. The moment of hesitation was enough for her to place her hand on his mouth. All that Sasuke could do was watch as his eyes widened when her hand glowed green. "Is that any better?" The trainee medic inquired when she finished healing. For a few seconds, she watched the boy play with his tongue and mouth, checking every angle to try and find any faults in her work. After a while, he gave up.

"Come on, we should probably get that assignment done." Sasuke suggested and began walking towards the compound.

"You're welcome." Sakura taunted sarcastically before running to catch up with him.

Finally the nightmares over! Sakura thought happily as she dived on to her bed and relaxed. The students of the ninja academy had officially ended for the holidays and all the projects were done, which meant no more to deal with; though she was going to miss the senbei's though, they were nice. Now she could just enjoy the holidays. Thinking of Christmas, she rolled to the side and peeped under her bed to where all the presents were hidden. She found Tomi already under there, sleeping but his one good ear twisted towards the door to listen out for anyone trying to sneak in, especially a certain blonde who had already been caught red handed trying to get a peep at his presents.

"Good dog!" The young girl smiled and her animal opened his eyes for a spilt second and looked at her as if to say 'I always do a good job' and shut his eyes again. In all fairness she was surprised that he could still fit under the bed. One day she was sure that she would walk in and find the poor creature trapped underneath it. Leaving a treat on the floor for him to reach later, she left the room and went to go and find Tsunade for her lesson today.

Thud! She hit the snow hard as she dived to avoid the snowball aimed at her head. Soon she was back to her feet with an already made snowball made in her hands and launched back at the blonde. She missed her target as well and noticing she was in the opening jumped back behind the fort wall that her group had made up. It was girls against boys, Sakura, Hinata and Tenten on one side, Naruto, Neji and Rock Lee on the other. So far there was no clear winners at the moment, it was basically snowball after snowball being thrown over the wall at each other. The war did not stop until Kushina came outside to offer hot chocolates. All the weapons were left to become mush in the white surface as the children ran inside.

Sitting around the fire, the children enjoyed their warm chocolate with marshmallows. It was the perfect way to end their snowball war, if only truces in real life were this easy. Tomi sat closets to the fire, hogging all the warmth with two little frogs sleeping on his head. Apart from Kushina all of the adults were in the Hokage's office all day. The children tried to stay away from the politics, when they were shinobi they would be caught up in plenty of it soon enough. The doorbell rang and the lady of the house went to answer it.

"Sakura, it's for you!" Kushina's voice rang across the walls of the house. Stretching her legs out she moved towards the door and was surprised to find Sasuke and his older brother Itachi standing by the door.

"Oh hello." Sakura greeted the two of them. The youngest Uchiha handed over a pink scarf.

"You left this at my house." He muttered as she took it from her hands. I wondered where I put this? Sakura smiled to herself as she felt the familiar fabric between her fingers.

"Thanks!" She smiled and wrapped the scarf loosely around her neck, she would probably need it later when they went back outside, she didn't want to miss place it before then.

"I hate to barge in on you like this Mrs Namikaze but I have a report I must give to the Hokage immediately." Itachi jumped in, holding a file in the air as if he was trying to prove what he said was true. Kushina seemed to sense the urgency in his voice and allowed him to step inside. Sasuke stood in the doorway outside still, looking a little unsure with himself to whether wait outside or come in. Oh for goodness sake! Sakura swore as she grabbed the boy by the collar and yanked him in. It wasn't like this was an enemy prison, it was a classmate's house (fair enough not a classmate he liked) and she was beginning to worry about the Uchiha's mentality.

"Come on, we're having hot chocolate in the living room." She directed him and made sure the boy followed her to the living room while her adoptive mother guided the older brother upstairs. When they were close enough to hear the sounds of young children laughing she could feel her former partner go tense. She had a feeling that this guy wasn't use to being in social atmospheres like this. It didn't get any better as they entered the room and the whole room went silent. Everyone looked at each other as if they were trying to send signals to each other as if they were trying to say 'why is _this _guy here?' looking at everyone to see if someone had an answer.

"Sasuke's going to be here for a while his brother sorts out some job stuff." Sakura informed them all. She retook her pace between Naruto and Tenten but had to quickly shuffle over so Sasuke could fit in as well. At first she found it odd that she had picked to sit next to but then again apart from the shouting matches across the desks Sasuke had no contact with any of them. She guessed that it was better to sit next to someone who you had more contact with. Again the group continued on in silence. Even Kushina notice when she walked back down stairs that something was off before retreating back into the kitchen.

"So what plans do you have for the holidays Sasuke?" Hinata asked politely (always the diplomat) to everyone's surprised the raven haired boy seemed glad to talk, since he usually tried to pick at the young Hyuga heiress whenever he got the chance.

"The usual stuff with the family and then on Boxing Day we're going to pay respects to the family tombs." He answered and took a sip from the hot chocolate that Kushina had just placed on the table for him. Taking one sip, his eyes widen in shock and looked at his drink in surprise. "Is this hot chocolate?" the boy asked, surprised.

"Yes, it's a famous Uzumaki recipe." Kushina smiled before moving on to perform other duties.

"Hey mum, why do we never go and pay respects to our family tombs?" Naruto asked, everyone looked at him, no one had noticed he had even been paying attention to what the Uchiha had said.

"Well my family tombs are all the way back in the Land of Whirlpool and your father only knows where his grandmother's grave is." She answered evenly.

"Oh!" Naruto muttered and took another sip from his mug. His mother was just about to say something when she got distracted by something beeping in the kitchen and went to check on it. Hinata patted her best friend sympathetically on the arm. Though all this commotion, Sakura had not noticed how greedily Sasuke had been gulping at the his hot chocolate like his life depended on it. The sound of lot of people coming down the stairs broke through the silence and Itachi and Minato stepped into the room.

"Come on Sasuke time to go." Itachi mutter and pointed to his little brother with one of his fingers. Automatically, Sasuke followed his brothers instructions and got to his feet. Making a spilt decision Sakura ran into the kitchen able to sneak by since her adoptive mother who was busy swearing at the boiling potatoes. Quickly she grabbed a bag and scooped chocolate powder into it. Running back out and through the rest of the house, she just reached the Uchiha's as they were about to leave.

"Wait!" She called out, squeezing past the Hokage. "Merry Christmas." She beamed handing him the packet of hot chocolate. The boy took it and for once in her life she actually saw him smile.

"Merry Christmas Sakura." In the end, Sakura guessed there was such a thing as a Christmas miracle.

One step. Two step. Three step. Moving as quietly as she could Sakura creped down the stairs as quietly as she good, adjusting the bag on her back every now and again, keeping her feet wide a part to balance out her weight. She made it safety down without so much as a creak from the wood and tip toed towards the living room. Even in the darkness she could make out the shape of the Christmas tree and all the ornaments hanging off of its branches. They had finished decorating the whole house just the other day, it had all the traditional colours of red, green and gold shaped around the room and the decorations ranges from sparkly tinsel. The carrots and cookies that had been left for Santa and his reindeer still remained.

Sakura thought it was a silly idea at first when Naruto suggested it and when she informed him that the old guy with the red suit and jolly laugh wasn't real the boy just shrugged and said 'maybe's he's real, maybe not, we should probably leave them out for the old guy just in case' she could only stare at her brother in amazement, sometimes he could be very sage like. Then he ruined by calling Sakura an old scrooge and she responded by hitting him on the head.

Quickly, she sat herself down by the tree and opened up her back. Gently, she took the wrapped up boxes one at a time and placed them under the tree. There wasn't many, just seven in total. She had already given her Christmas presents to her friends and the rest she had stored away upstairs for the larger part of the family tomorrow. The seven she put down her were for her new adoptive family, Naruto, Minato, Kushina, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune. Lighting a small pray candle she had brought down, Sakura made a quick pray for everyone she loved to be in good health this holiday and that everyone had a good Christmas. When she was done, she blew the candle out and ridding every piece of evidence of herself being here and snuck back to her room and climb back into bed. Mission complete! Was the last thing Sakura thought before she drifted back to sleep. It would have been two, if she had taken her time to use her gift and sensed the six adults that had been hiding in the shadows the whole time.

If there was any time that Sakura didn't like being disturbed it was when she was trying to sleep. Only Tsunade and Kushina were the only two brave enough to wake her up for school in the mornings. But this morning was different. Just as she was in the middle of a beautiful dream consisting of kicking some ones ass, something heavy jumped on her and woke her up.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, wriggling her arm loose from the covers and just managed to swipe at his head. But the sudden blow wasn't enough to knock the boy aside.

"Get up Sakura! It's Christmas!"


	20. The Christmas Month

**Sorry for the late update, had major writers block and may re-write this scene for the future. This chapter is just different events that happened during the holidays and I hope you enjoy. **

Hearing that it was Christmas, Sakura sprung to life. Not even bothering to change or wash, both children scrambled down stairs to the living room, with Tomi barking madly with happiness behind them. The adults were already downstairs about half awake, until the children came in and startle them into awareness. Naruto and Sakura came to a sudden halt and stared in the direction of the Christmas tree. You could only see half of the tree now because it was surrounded by mountains of wrapped boxes. Wow! Was the only thing that the pink haired girl could think of as she stared at the pile. Even Tomi seemed to be very impressed by the large stack of wrapped presents. The problem was now which box did she start with.

"Not just yet kids, you've got breakfast first." Kushina's happy laughter knocked the children back to their senses. At the same moment their stomachs rumbled like to beasts about to go to battle against one another. The room busted into laughter as the children tried to comfort the poor ache in their growling bellies. It wasn't a major breakfast, since most of the kitchens devices and surfaces were already taken up for everything that would be used for the Christmas Dinner later that day. With their bellies settled the children were finally able to open their presents. Naruto went first, selecting the largest box that had a yellow background and orange toads, he almost looked like a wild animal as he rip the paper away.

"Cool!" Naruto grinned as he pulled out and mannequin that wore proper battle suit armour. The pink haired girl didn't need to have special eye sight to see that all the materials were all perfectly made to fit him. "Thanks!" The boy smiled at his parents while also placing the helmet on his head. Suddenly feeling shy, Sakura seemed to be frozen to her spot. Even Tomi had abandoned her as he went on a search for his open presents. She didn't know why but she suddenly felt guilty, she wished she had her grandpa here to share all this with her. A sudden nudge brought her out of her thoughts and she looked behind to see Kakashi poking her in the back.

"Go on, don't be shy." Her older brother teased. Slowly, she made her way forward and picked the rectangle box cover with pink cherry blossoms. Bit by bit her small fingers began to tear away corners and slip out a contain case of a… She gasped as soon as she recognised it. It was the sword from the weapons window. It was the perfect size for her, with a sharp steel blade and a black leather handle for an easy but firm grip. At the moment she wasn't sure she was dreaming or not. It was only until a familiar hand began waving madly in her face that she was drawn back to the real world.

"Dude you went into shock." The blonde laughed at her. Sakura could feel her face turning the same colour as her hair when she raised she had been looking at the item with her mouth hung open the whole time.

"It's beautiful." Sakura could only say afterwards, her finger gliding across the rim of the glass case the held such a perfect specimen.

"I'm glad you like it Sakura, when we get a chance I'll teach you how to use it." Kushina smiled, making Sakura whole body begin to buzz in excitement. Before Kushina had become a mum she had been a feared warrior with a magnificent ability to use a sword; sometimes people would say that she was born with a sword attached to her instead of an arm. Holding the precise gift between her hands, she hugged it tight to her chest. She knew this gift was expensive, so it was a kind gesture for them to get it for her. But they had already given her so much, a roof over her head, food and most importantly a family. Never in her life had she felt so blessed to have such wonderful people in her life. From then on she swore that would it took, she would protect this people with everything she had. But right now all she could say was…

"Thank you."

Everyone loved there presents (Sakura was especially glad that Naruto liked her toad purse) including Tomi who at the moment was still chewing at his new bone. She had a lot of dresses and accessories to dress her doll up with, some clothes for herself including a beautiful white kimono with red Sakura petals embroiled into it. Plus, a few story books and a medical text book and equipment to help keep her blade in top shape. But her most precious item would have to be the jewelled hair clips from Naruto, they were not made out of real stones but they looked pretty nevertheless, each had pink cherry blossoms with red stones on them. Sakura was also very glad that everyone liked the presents she got them, especially Tsunade which held a photo frame of herself holding up her old team mate in a victories gesture after just punching the man in the face with both Sakura and Naruto in the back ground laughing their heads off.

Not to mention the Christmas dinner was amazing. When Kushina placed the turkey on the table, Sakura could only stare at how huge it was. She had never seen something that big! But then again, it had to be big enough to feed eight people (and let's face it Kushina was feeding for three and Naruto and Jiraiya seemed to have a stomach that could devour most of a house) so with just a matter of minutes most of had gone and the scarps had gone to Tomi and Kakashi's nin-dogs. The dogs seemed to be having the best day of his life with all the extra food they were getting. The bonus was that it was all delicious; which is not surprising since Kushina had sick cooking skills.

The last part of the day was the whole family sitting in the living room. The sound of cracking wood in the fireplace was a peaceful sound as the family cradle next to it, huddled against one another not for the warm but for the safe comfort they each provided. It was a tradition in the Namikaze to light a candle, in memory of close friends, comrades or family members lost to them but were still acknowledge and they were still loved.

"This is boring." Five year old Hanabi commented, scratching her skin again because of the itchy fabric of her dress. The older children surrounded her nodded in agreement. The Boxing Day party had been designed more for the adults and children. The music was more classical and the dancing more formal, so the children stood in the corner watching the adults. This year the party was being hosted by the Hinata's parents and had been decorated with the finest touches, spreading far to the violet, blue and white flower arrangements to fine silver edges decorated on the napkins. The worst bit for the boys was that they had to be their formal attire, especially Naruto, who was trying to fight the imprisoned movement that his golden kimono was causing; so far the outfit was winning. Sakura didn't mind it so much as it allowed her to wear her own kimono which made her feel very pretty and even though she would never (and I mean NEVER) admit this to anyone, she liked feeling like a princess. Hinata also wore a lovely light purple that had white and silver forest animals decorated around the sleeves and bottom, while Hanabi wore a dark blue dress with light blue butterflies. Even though Neji looked very handsome in his plain light blue kimono, as did Konohamaru in his red kimono but Sakura could not resist the urge to use this opportunity to tease the boy in his greatest discomfort. However, the hour was boredom was soon to end; they just had to wait for most of the adults to get drunk enough for their plan to work.

At first they thought Kushina would be their main problem since being pregnant stopped her from drinking but they was to bust keeping a close eye on the drinking contest between Jiraiya and Tsunade in the corner to pay any close attention to the children's strange behaviour. They spilt into three groups, Neji was in charge of providing entertainment, Naruto, Konohamaru and Hinata needed to gather food and Hanabi and Sakura were left to find music. Sneaking away from the adults, all children arranged to meet in the closet later, so they were close enough to here if the adults started panicking but far enough to not worry about their volume bothering their parents. Hanabi and Sakura were the first to arrive, holding a CD player and actual CD's to listen to. To reasons unknown to them, there was strangely a socket inside the small room to plug the electronic device in. Next was Neji with the games and the last of all Naruto and Hinata with probably half of the banquet feast stolen off the table.

"Mission Accomplished!" Naruto beamed happily as he performed a victories fist punch into the air at the same time. Pushing some of the items around the children made themselves comfortable and using a box as a sort of dining table, relaxed and back challenging each other to a card game of fish.

As usual Naruto won almost every game and had eaten most of the food. It didn't matter that he didn't have the most strategic moves but the boy just had an unlimited supply of good luck. Yet they still played. Maybe it's because the others wanted to prove they could win at least one game that kept them going and tried to wait for the blondes luck to run out but with no success so far. The closet person who had come close to beating was Hanabi, who managed to draw with him at one game but no one else had come close.

"Have you got any threes Sakura?" Naruto asked the pink haired girl whose face twisted in annoyance. Fuck! Was all she could think of as she handed her cards over. She had all the threes and was about to ask him if her had the card she needed. The knuckleheads lucky guesses were starting to get beyond the point of annoying. Now I can see why Tsunade is always in debt, Sakura wondered to herself. It wasn't just the fact that she had no luck and had no skill when it came to gambling but she was beginning to see how addictive the game could get when you to win just one game. What they needed was a big bang to drag them out of this game, but what? Right on cue the door burst opened and the children looked up to see Kushina smiling down on them.

"There you are the fireworks are about to start." The red head grinned. The children didn't need to be told twice and cleaning up the worse of their mess before following the woman outside where everyone else had already gathered, waiting for the main events to start. Thanks to Kushina watchful, Jiraiya was not as seriously drunk as he usually was and as soon as he saw his grandchildren, swept them up and placed them on too each of his shoulders so they had the best view. The other children's parents followed the toad sages example and placed their children on their shoulders so they could see among the small crowd. Boom! The first firework made everyone jump as the rocket exploded and red sparkles flew across the dark sky. Everyone gasp in wonder and excitement as more fireworks followed the first and added more glowing colours to the night sky. Sakura practically liked the gold ones that span around in the air.

The female lion looked up lazily from her sleeping place to watch the people surrounding the area before dropping her had back down to nap in the winter suns beams. Nearby her cubs played and the father walked around the fence, glaring at everyone as he went passed as if to see 'anyone crosses that fence and their my lunch' if it wasn't for their large canines that could easily rip a person's flesh apart, Sakura would of done anything to cuddle them. But she felt the same need for all the animals in the zoo, especially the little monkeys that were allowed to climb out of their little house and came to interact with you.

The group had Hinata's dad and uncle to look after them while they followed the guide around the area. As an added addiction they were allowed to go to the private area later where they would be allowed to hold some of the less dangerous animals. She even got to hold a snake that must have been as long as Jiraiya was tall. Hinata was a little fearful of the animal at first but with a little encourage from Naruto helped her to hold it. But the one creature that the Hyuga fell in love with was the white bunny rabbit. It was almost like love at first sight when pale eyes looked into large brown eyes there was an instant connection. The birthday girl almost cried when she was forced to give it back to the caretakers but with a little influenced with her father, she got an additional party gift from the zoo.


	21. Ino's melt down

December quickly moved on to January and the students of the ninja academy soon found themselves back at school. That didn't necessarily mean that the holiday buzz had ended. Everyone was taking what they had recently received for Christmas and plus other major events that had occurred during the holidays; all except one. Sakura didn't need to use her abilities to sense that something was up with the girl. Ino sat all by herself, not to mention her appearance was awful. Greasy hair, dark bags and messy clothes defeated that whatever happened to her affected her greatly. It was not like her at all. None of her friends even attempted to help her, instead they had moved two rows away from her. Iruka sensei had not arrived yet and the boys were busy talking among themselves to have noticed anything. Nudging Hinata gently in the side, she jerked her head in the girl's direction. Following Sakura's eye line, the Hyuga soon saw the dilemma. They didn't even need to speak. Both looked at each other and their eyes spoke volumes. With a simple nod, they made their way the other rows, being careful not to distract the boys from their conversation.

"Iruka sensei sure is late." Sakura simply comment as she sat down beside Ino. It seemed that the pink haired girl had startled the blonde out of her day dream and stared at her blankly. She looked tired; really tired.

"Yes… I suppose he is." Ino finally managed to answer after a while. Watching the girl carefully, Sakura saw that all of Ino's reflexes were quite slow, almost as if she was in a dazz. Before Sakura and Hinata had a chance to say or do any more, their teacher finally arrived and everyone slowly began to settle into their seats. Leaping over the blonde, Sakura sat herself on the Yamanaka other side, while the Hyuga heiress moved closer to close in on the blondes right. Looking left to right, Ino looked at both of them carefully before deciding she was comfortable having people actually sitting next to her. They talked for a while (mostly Hinata and Sakura did the talking) until they're teacher finally turned up for class.

"Good morning class." Iruka smiled to all of his students. "I hope you all had a good holiday."

"Yes sensei." Everyone answered, accept Ino, who continued to keep staring at an invisible spot on her desk. With a quick glance at Iruka, Sakura could see that his focus was on Ino. The way he looked at her made the pink haired girl think that he already knew what was wrong with the blonde. Nevertheless, she kept her head down and pretended like everything was normal. Class began and their first lesson was simple mathematics. Everyone moaned and some even had the guts to complain about it, until their sensei shouted at him and freaked everyone out. It wasn't anything hard, so it was easy to complete. Then they went outside for some morning physical training. Mizuki sensei was already outside waiting for them, setting up the list for partners that day. He saw the students coming towards him and waved. For some reason his gesture sent a cold shiver down her back. She hoped she would be studying under her other instructors eye today, anyone but him.

Thankfully her prays were answered and she was placed in Iruka's group. Not to mention fate seemed to have a few other tricks up his sleeve. Sakura was surprised to find she was partnered with the Yamanaka. Fixing the grip she had on her leather gloves, the blossom calmly waited for the rest of the list to be called out before making her way to the position. Everyone made the signs for battle before battling.

Before Sakura had a chance to breathe, she had to leap back to dodge a high kick at her face. A sudden fury overcame Ino and she was throwing punches madly in all directions, throwing all her might into her fists but not aiming or even trying to control them. But as expected, Ino's reactions soon began to slow down. Not because she wasn't trying, you could see the fire burning in her eyes, almost as if she wanted to take out her pain on something; sadly, it was Sakura dodging all the punches. The thing was that the Yamanaka was relying on this sudden adrenaline boost and not her own energy. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes she didn't have much of it. Right now, Sakura was glad that with all the extra training she had with Naruto. Over time her stamina had grown greatly and it was coming in useful for now as she dodged all the attacks, waiting for Ino to worn herself out. It took another few minutes for the Yamanka to stop, panting heavily and leaking buckets of sweat. Nevertheless, Sakura stayed wary of the girl and kept her distance, just in case she got another burst of energy and tried to punch her again. But it never happened. Instead, the girl just sat on the floor and started to cry.

Immediately, Iruka sensei cancelled the rest of training and ushered everyone else into the classroom except Ino. With no teacher in the classroom the children were allowed to go do whatever they wanted. Some minded their own business and did their own thing while others talked about what just happened. However, Naruto and Kiba seemed more interested in planning their next prank.

"You guys are going to get in so much trouble." Shikamaru muttered from his desk as the small group carefully watched what the two boys were doing. At first the silent genesis had tried to ignore what they were doing and tried to catch up with his sleep. Sadly, his curious mind got the better of him. Looking up from what he was doing, Naruto just gave him on of his cheeky smile before turning back to his work. Only Sakura's mind was still set on Ino and her sudden collapse. If it hadn't been for her terrible beforehand Sakura would have believed that she had just tired herself out by working too hard. But something about this disturbed her too much to just let it go. Maybe it was the years of being trained to be suspicious of everything by her grandfather being beaten into her or maybe she just had really good instincts but she couldn't just let it go. Sighing to herself, Sakura followed Shikamaru's example and rested her head on her desk; her head hurt. Suddenly the door slid open and their teacher returned back to the classroom.

"Alright class settled down." Iruka spoke loudly over his students, somehow his voice travelled over the other waves of child's chatter and everyone was suddenly under quiet again. That's when everyone finally noticed that Ino had not returned with him. Studying everyone's expressions around the room, she could see the same question on everyone's faces. Where was Ino? Apart from the two trouble makers that existence of course. Looking up, the pink haired girl was surprised to find Kiba and Naruto suddenly back in their seats, trying to suppress the grins on their faces. Iruka made his way over to the desk. "Now if you could all turn to pa…" Crack! The next thing that everyone witness was their teacher falling off his chair and a large pile of chalk dust falling on top of him.

"Come on! You can't even admit it was a little funny." Naruto tried to persuade her as they walked home with Kakashi walking behind them. To be honest, Sakura didn't just find the stunt funny; she found it absolutely hilarious. Iruka's reaction was the best bit. The thing was though that when their sensei ordered them to give up who was behind it the whole class did say anything. Which was good in one way because part of their training was to learn not to rat out their comrades or give away enemy intelligence. The bad part of it was that since their teacher couldn't discipline the culprits, he had to take out his revenge on the whole class. But no matter how much she found the scenario funny she was not going to admit it to her brother.

"No, you so over did it with the chalk powder." Sakura snapped back at him and tried to look disapproving. But he just beamed right back at her, sensing what she was really thinking.

Kushina was not happy when she heard about it. It didn't take a genius to figure out Naruto was the mastermind behind the prank and mother knew her son better than anyone. As punishment he was not allowed to join in with the family training or have desert. Naruto called it unfair; Sakura called it justice. Right now, the pink haired girl was performing one of the sword dances that her adoptive mother had taught her just over a week ago. In a way it was almost like dancing, remembering the moves and swaying your muscles to the counts of the drills. Her mentor was watching her carefully from where she sat, watching Sakura's movements carefully and trying to point out her steps and her weaknesses. At three months, a bump around Kushina's stomach, much larger than average as she was carrying twins and made it impossible for her to teach the steps to her. Luckily Kakashi had copied enough so some of his mother's training sessions to help Sakura with the basic sword forms she had to learn. Ending the sword form with a mid-chest thrust, the young girl took a deep breath and went to join her adoptive mother by the bench. Sitting down, she to a large swing from her water bottle and used the towel to get rid of the dampness around her head and neck.

"Well done Sakura. That was excellent!" Kushina congratulated her young prodigy. "Now we just need to work on speeding it up but making sure you main control of the sword." She added on. Sakura turned to smile at her new mother but froze when she saw the woman's hand on her stomach. Every time she saw Kushina directing motherly affection towards her unborn children Sakura was instantly reminded of her horrible nightmare. The dream gave her more conviction to work harder at her studies. She wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her family; never!

"Is it okay if I go to Ino's place with Hinata after school tomorrow?" She asked, desperate to change her thoughts in a different direction.

"Sure honey, I hadn't realised you had been friends." Kushina answered, suddenly intrigued at this innovative development.

"We're not but she's been very upset recently and all her friends have abandoned her, so I and Hinata thought we might go and cheer her up." The medical student answered, taking her cleaning items from her bag and began cleaning her sword. It had been Hinata's idea to go and check on the Yamanka tomorrow as she had eavesdropped on sensei's conversation and heard that she wouldn't be coming in to the academy until she was mentally healthy to return to school. Sakura agreed to it instantaneously and even Choji and Shikamaru had volunteered to come as their family was close to hers; even though Shikamaru found it all troublesome. Naruto would have come but he and Kiba had to spend detection with Iruka after school tomorrow, as he had soon figured out it was them that had been the masterminds behind the prank. Sakura's thoughts were suddenly interrupted

Sakure, Hinata, Choji and Shikamaru all gathered up after school and walked to Ino's house. The two boys led the way as they knew where it was, giving the girls some time to go over their stuff and make sure they were alright to give to a grieving ten year old. The group headed into the market place, weaving through the large crowds that were on the street trying to buy goods for dinner. Finally they came to the Yamanka family flower shop. As soon as Sakura was a step away from the shop something pierced her hard in the chest. It was nothing physical but there was a strong energy presence surrounding the house. It felt like someone was sad, depressed, in pain. It felt like Ino.

It was Shikamaru who knocked on the door. When the door opened up, a tall man with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail just like Ino's but had spikes around his head and even though he was working in the flower shop still had his uniform jacket on. His pupilless green eyes stared at them, trying to read any signs of threat. It was understandable; ninja's had learned to be cautious, even if it was your best friend's kids, it was the same look Sakura had witness Kakashi use when he had taken his siblings out. Finally, his facial features relaxed and it seemed like a whole weight had lifted from his shoulder.

"Shikamaru, Choji, Lady Hinata and…" The shinobi stopped when his eyes landed on her, seeming to know her in some way but unable to place her face anywhere.

"Sakura." The girl smiled, helping the poor man out. The Yamanka's eyes suddenly widen in realisation and stumbled into a clumsy bow.

"Lady Sakura… I… I did not realise." The man stuttered, while everyone just looked at him oddly. Huh! Lady? When did people start putting a lady in front of my name? Sakura wondered to herself, unable to think of a reason why this sudden new development had occurred. Still confused she looked to her friends for support but all of them just shrugged in reply. Hinata seemed to know but had seemed too nervous to say anything.

"Uuummmm, there's no need to apologise." Sakura managed to say after she was unable to consider any other opinions.

"Please come in." He smiled, unexpectedly returning back to normal and stepping back to let them in. Stepping into the shop, Sakura could see why the Yamanka's plants were so highly recommended and respected. It must have taken a lot of skill and patience to create such beautiful, organic life. Despite herself, Sakura not help but let herself be distracted by the colourful display. Inspecting one set, Sakura took a moment to admire some of the dandelions that were on the shelves. "Just placed on display today." Inochi beamed behind her, knowing the look on her face and now was proud of his work.

"They're very beautiful." Sakura admired, delicately stroking one of the petals. It was strangely soft.

"So what can I help you guys with?" Inochi asked, addressing the rest of the group now. Everyone looked at Shikamaru to take the lead. He was close to the family so it was his reasonability.

"We came to see how Ino was." The boy shrugged and everyone nodded, just so the ninja could see that they were all there for the same reason. The father looked a little shocked by this for some reason but didn't say anything as he led them to the back of the shop and up stairs to the apartment. It was quite a cosy place with homey furniture and light colours; defiantly had a woman's touch to it.

"I appreciate you for coming but please remember Ino is still not feeling… well." His hesitation made everyone look at each other again. Everyone nodded except Sakura. He looked at her for a moment before finally stepping out of his way to allowed them room to walk pass him and held the door open as they walked into the girls bedroom.

Everyone was purple; literally. Purple curtains, quilt covers and even the teddy bears. This girl had an obvious obsession with the colour for some reason. The closest difference to a colour change was a lilac rug on the floor. Even though in different circumstances this type of arrangement would seem weird but for some reason Ino had somehow been able to make everything all work; you had to admire the girl's skill. Sakura's thoughts were soon distracted when she both saw and felt movement move under the bed. Quieten her mental systems down, she re-focused her mind on the task ahead.

"Leave me alone dad, I'm tired." A small voice moaned from under the blankets. She didn't know why but something about this really made Sakura mad. Marching towards the bed, she grabbed a corner of the covers and yanked them off as hard as she could. Immediately, the blonde curled up into a tight. Human nature, the shock of the cold air makes a person automatically search for ways to maintain their previous condition. Once the quilt had been removed, Sakura had to step back and cover her nose.

"Good God Ino when's the last time you took a shower." Sakura complained, now breathing through her mouth. For the first time, Ino opened one of her eyes and actually looked at her. It swelled up in surprise. Something nudged her in the side of her stomach.

"So much for gentle." Shikamaru hissed in her ear angrily. To see an emotion other than tiredness or boredom was both interesting and scary at the same time. Nevertheless, Sakura held her ground and grew to her fall height so she was now eye level with the Nara.

"It's called tough love." She answered. To be honest the pink haired girl was surprised about her own behaviour but something inside her told her that what she was doing was the right thing. Maybe it was when she let her guard slip and her mental powers pick up how Ino was feeling; maybe she unintentionally picked up on what the blonde needed. In end Sakura had started something; she might as well go with it. "Trust me." She whispered, staring Shikamaru right in the eye. They were like that for less than a second but it was long enough for the message to get across. The boy stepped back into the shadows and muttered something that sounded like,

"Troublesome woman." Looking to her right she saw that Hinata and Choji had decided to stay out of it and trust Sakura.

"Come on Ino, we're going outside. I don't know what you've been going through but you can't just stay in your room and hide, at some point you have to face reality…"

"What do you know?" Ino snapped, up on her feet quicker than the speed of sound, making everyone jump back in surprise. "Who died and made you the greatest guru of the universe? Huh! You have no idea what it's like to feel like someone's tortured you mercilessly! To feel like you've lost everything! To…" Smack! The deafening sound sent the room into utter silence. Everyone stared at Sakura like she was a rabid dog, you wanted to help but you were too scared to approach. The pink haired girl was trying to keep herself under control but everyone could see from the facial expressions on her face that she was enraged. Not to mention she had just slapped Ino. The Yamanka could only stare at Sakura, one hand covering the side of her cheek from where Sakura had slapped her.

"Guess what Ino." Sakura hissed, trying to grip some control over herself but her whole body was shaken. "I have been torture. I did loss everything. So don't you dare tell me what I have or have not felt, because I've not just felt them I've experienced them." Again the room was silent. No one seemed sure what to do anymore and afraid that if they did speak, Sakura would just bite their head off. Slowly, Ino collapsed back on to her bed, staring into space. Finally, she said,

"Okay, I'll go out." She whispered her voice so small that at first it was barely recognisable. But what happened next shocked everyone to the core. Sakura smiled.

"Now that's the spirit!" She encouraged, patting her girl on the shoulder. "Though, you might want to consider taking a shower first."


	22. Pressure

**Sorry for taking so long, college and work has been a bitch, enjoy. **

"Hey Mr Tanaka!" Sakura called out to her former employer. The chef turned to see his old star delivery girl running to greet him.

"Hey Cherry! I was beginning to believe you had forgotten all about me." He teased but the girl couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about not seeing her old friend for so long.

"I came to see you at Christmas." She pouted.

"Hey baby girl, don't feel so down." Mr Tanaka tried to comfort her, pulling her towards the table and helped her up on the stool. "Here, have some of my miso soup, just cook it and it was made by me." He grinned, dishing out his special recipe. Sakura's stomach just reminded her that it was lunch and that she was hungry.

"I'm sorry I don't visit you much Mr Tanaka." The girl apologises as he settle down in front of her with his own bowl of food.

"Don't be silly Cherry." The chef insisted, waving his hand as if he was trying to wish the problem out of the air. "Also long as you come and visit once and a while and the new kitchen equipment you gave me for Christmas was lovely, just exactly what I wanted." He pointed proudly to the new kitchen tools that hung in their appointed spots. "Now tell Uncle Tanaka all about your training, how's Ino?"

Over the weeks, Ino slowly began to tear away the defensive walls that surrounded her and soon returned back to her usual self. Well this time she was much nicer now she didn't have the corrupted influence of her old friends. She grew close to Hinata and Sakura quickly, making it her life's mission to try and make her friends dress and act more girly (forgetting all about the scenario where Sakura had slapped her) in addition, the Yamanaka had renewed her friendship with Shikamaru and Choji, though the two boys treated her like she had never left. When the other children questioned this later, the Hokage informed them that there was a strong tie between the three clans going back even before the founding of the village. It was a unique bond that no other clan or village had, making it a precise jewel in Konohagakure's crown; theoretically, Minato had to add on after Naruto actually believed that the village had a crown hidden somewhere.

But despite all the good that was happening around Sakura'a life, she was still plagued by the same dream every night. She would wake every morning with her clothes drenched in sweat and her heart hammering in her ears. Never so badly had she wanted to tell somebody what was happening but every time she tried the terrifying images would float in front of her eyes. She hated it. As the months went on and Kushina belly grew more noticeable, Sakura could not help but feel hatred towards the children inside her stomach. Then she would beat herself up. It wasn't the babies fault, they had no say in what was happening. To hide her guilt, she focused a lot of attention into her medical studies with Tsunade. In addition, every time Kushina came home from a recent check-up, Sakura would demand to know every detail. Were the heart beats regular? Have the movements been regular? Was she sure there weren't any blood clots in her womb to cause any problems? All the questions made the read head fell dizzy and would always have to insisted that the twins were fine (even though she didn't know half the questions to her answers) this only made Sakura feel even more frustrated. But no matter how good Sakura was good at hiding things away from people, Jiraiya was better at seeing through facades.

He confronted her one day when she was playing on the swings by herself. As usual, Kushina and Tsunade were at the hospital to check on the babies but had taken Naruto with them to get a health check-up, Kakashi was on a mission, Shizune was on a 'friendly outing' with Iruka-sensei and the Hokage was at the office. Since she had grown up a lonely child, Sakura was used to entertaining herself. Besides, Tomi was not being helpful, he refused to move from his favourite spot by the tree; apparently he was having a lazy day. Twirling the rope until it couldn't turn no more, she span around endlessly. She tried to imagine herself as a massive tornado, forcing herself to go faster and faster. Sakura hadn't noticed that the toad sage was leaning against the tree watching her until the dizziness from her head stopped.

"Hey Jiraiya!" Sakura smiled at him, getting herself prepared to perform another turn. "How was the meeting with your publisher?" Even though she wasn't a great fan of his books, he was family, she wanted to feel like she was being supportive.

"It was great! They're going to turn Icha Icha Paradise into a movie!" The big man grinned. Really? A movie! Sakura thought to herself as a massive sweat drop slowly fell down the side of her head. There couldn't be that many perverts in the world? The ten year old wondered to herself but then changed her mind, why else would it be coming out as a movie? At least Kakashi would be happy about it when he finds out. "So how was your day?" He questioned.

"Nothing exciting." She shrugged, slowly undoing her rope again so she wasn't tempted to suddenly start spinning again. "I finished reading all the medical journals Tsunade ordered me to do and all my homework."

"That's what I'm worried about Sakura." The toad sage asserted, his face twisted into a serious frown. It made the pink haired girl freeze on the spot. Never had she seen the old man look like that before, he was always carefree or smiling (or in agony from Tsunade beating him up) seeing him all business was a new experience to her. Automatically, she thought she was in trouble. Had she done something wrong? Flipping through her memories, she couldn't think of doing anything bad. Or maybe it had something to do with stealing Kakashi's entire porn collection last week. Was Jiraiya really that fond of his own collections? "I've noticed the way you've become obsessed with your medical studies and these questions that you constantly ask…" He mumbled off into his own thoughts. Sakura looked straight don at her feet, hoping her hair would give her some cover. Now she felt ashamed of herself. Had he already guessed her feelings towards the children? She didn't want to feel the resentment towards them, she just couldn't help it. "Sakura, is there something you want to tell me?" The old man asked, crouching down beside, to get a better look at her face. In response she looked away. "Sakura." It was still gentle, but there was also a new firmness to it.

"I have a bad feeling." She answered weakly. Her voice was so quiet that if it hadn't been for Jiraiya's heighten abilities, he would have never been able to hear her.

"About the babies?" The toad sage confirmed. Sakura nodded.

"You must think I'm silly." Sakura muttered, wiping the corner of her eye that threatened to give her away.

"Not at all, I think it's a good thing you trust your instincts." Jiraiya encouraged, patting her on the shoulder. "To be a good ninja you have to listen to your gut, it's how most ninja survive their missions." Now he had turned sensei on her, she was beginning to feel like she was in school.

"So… do you think I'm right?" Sakura dared to ask, watching the old man's probably. He seemed to be doing the same thing, his mouth pressed hard together as he study her and what she had just said in his mind. It felt like they had been acting this way for a long time, but in reality it was only a few seconds.

"Don't you worry Sakura." Jiraiya beamed, a gestured that had been passed from student and then to son. It meant they were trying to positive about a situation. "You just leave it up to the grown-ups, we'll take care of Kushina and babies." He sounded so confident that for a second, Sakura believed him. That everything would be fine as long as the family stuck together, all of them were legends in their own right, surely they could handle this. But then the images flashed into her mind one by one, breaking whatever confidence she had left.

"You promise." She asked, desperately wanting the feeling of safety and security to the return.

"I promise." He smiled, holding out his hand. Her small hand grabbed hold of his massive ones and gave it a firm shake. The feelings did not come.

The toad sage left two days later after receiving and urgent cry for help from one of his informants. Even with Jiraiya's comforting words, Sakura's dreams did not stop. Instead they got worse. One night she was so frighten that she woke up screaming, it had taken Kushina over an hour to calm her down. Now, the girl had to fight every morning not to shout or start crying. More than ever, she was working into her medical studies (secretly, so Jiraiya wouldn't be mad). Every lesson, she would prompt Tusnade to have another lesson on child birth. At first the woman had found the idea very sweet to care so much about Kushina and the twins; but now it was driving her insane.

"Okay Sakura, time to learn something new today." She began, placing a textbook in front of her. It was about organ transplants and the medic had been hoping to start on the heart.

"Could we…"

"No!" The slug princess quickly confronted, pulling out other equipment they would need for the lesson.

"But…" Sakura tried again but her tutor just raised her hand to silence her.

"I've taught you almost everything there is to know about pregnancy, as a matter of fact I could probably promote you as an expert on the subject, but right now we'll trying something a little different." The Slug Princess insisted and went back to gathering equipment. Nevertheless, Sakura was not eased by these words, even if she knew her tutor would not of said these things if she was not certain. She had another six months before the babies were due but the girl was determined to make sure she was fully prepared for the twin's arrival.

"But…"

"No Sakura!" Tsunade shouted, and lips pressed hard into a furious frown and her honey coloured eyes narrowed. "I am your teacher! You should show me some respect, I've had enough of your childish antics! Now do as you are told!" Never before had Tsunade turned her temper on a child before. Of course, she had seen her woman's outbursts before and had seen her violently attack Jiraiya, but this was on a whole new scale. Her lips trembled, as they fought to keep back the sobs. But the water in her eyes flooded over her cheeks. Unable to control herself, Sakura ran from the room as fast as she could.

Slamming the bedroom door behind, Sakura dived under the bed. For some strange reason, she thought it would help to muffle the sound of her cries. It didn't. Scratches from the door indicated that Tomi had sensed his mistresses' distress. But as heart-warming she found this, Sakura could not bare to let anyone see her in this condition, even dogs. She felt mad at herself, she had been in worse situations before and hadn't cried, why was this any different? No matter had much she tried to rationalise with herself, the tears came coming. Tomi became more urgent as he tried to force his way in, shredding paint from the wooden surface. But still she would not move, clutching her hands to her ears as she tried to silence the outside world. Despite her attempts, she could not drown out the sounds around her.

She didn't know when but she must have fallen asleep at some point because she found herself actually in her bed and not hidden below it. Sitting up, she noticed that the light was too bright to be the afternoon or the evening. Did I sleep through to morning? Sakura wondered to herself, clawing the blinding pieces of her fringe back across her face. Tomi had been sleeping at the end of her bed, suddenly alert when he felt movement. He didn't hold himself back when he jumped on her and began licking every inch of her face.

"Tomi! Calm down I'm fine." Sakura laughed, wrestling the creature away. It was a good thing he was still quite small otherwise she would have trouble wrestling with him. According to Kiba he would grow just as large as a great dane, maybe even slightly better. Thankfully, that would not be happening for another two years at least.

Examining herself, she realised that she was still in her casual clothes, except with her jacket and bandages taken off. What happened yesterday? The girl tried to explain, as images of the day before floated into her head. Even now she could clearly remember Tsunade's anger rip through her body and the moisture of tear drops running down her cheeks. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not think of why she had acted that way. Sure, Tsunade had snapped at her but it wasn't like she said anything nasty. Maybe she was sick? Hopping out of bed, Sakura stared at herself in the mirror. However, she could find nothing wrong with the way she looked excepted for her bed head.

Most of the family was not home. The only people in the house were Minato and Naruto. Using her abilities, she was able to locate the Hokage locked up in his home study, so Sakura didn't have to worry about bumping into him. On the other hand, her adoptive brother was a lot harder to find. At first she didn't understand. She could feel in that was sure but she couldn't find him. Following his signature, she went outside and into the wooden parts of the forest with Tomi faithfully following beside her. It was only then she realised why she had been having trouble. Naruto had been way out of her range, further into the woods then he was allowed to be. After ten minutes of searching, she found the boy searching the overgrowth of a bush.

"What ya doing?" She sung, catching him off guard that he almost knocked her up with a high kick.

"Sakura! You almost scared me to death!" Naruto shouted at her, his cheeks puffed out in frustration. Sakura couldn't help but laugh at his dramatics. However, the anger in his face slowly drifted away and was replaced with a massive smile. "Sakura! You're alright!" The blonde bounced around excitedly and tackled her into a hug.

"Who cares about me? What were you doing?" Sakura demanded, wiggling out of the boys grasp and scooted carefully over to where Naruto had been inspecting before.

"I found a tunnel, it's so cool." Naruto stood a little taller at the mention of his discovery. A tunnel? Sakura worried to herself, as she pushed away the plants. He was right. It was a tunnel, though it was quite small, it only seemed big enough for someone their size. "I think it's one of the old escape tunnels dads great, great grandparents built." The knuckled head explained.

"It's kind of small." The pink girl pointed out as she squeezed herself into the spot. She was correct. It was only big enough for a small child to get through, plus Tomi, who had taken it upon himself to inspect the new place as well.

"I think this one was to smuggle out family jewels. Dad's grandma was from a civilian family that owned a diamond mining company. They used to bring the diamonds here to get a careful account of everything and then sneak it back out underground so no one could steal them." Naruto stood proudly above the hole with a firm nod to indicate to himself a job well done for remembering the family history. On the other hand, Sakura was having a hard time to digest that the family was related to someone who wasn't a ninja. But she could see that Naruto theory did hold some truth. The fall had a track that would have been used to push the crates back and forth between the house, even the rope still remained where it was.

"Help me with this would you." Sakura called out. Jumping down behind her and taking the rope, they both began to pull. At first nothing happened, except the rope getting longer as the continued to pull. The equipment was stiff from decades of not being used but nevertheless it seemed to function well still. Then sounds began to echo from the darkness. They stopped when a little tray came rolling towards them.

"Sweet! We have to check this out!" Naruto dared, as he lay himself flat on the board and began to pull his way through.

"Are you crazy Naruto? Who knows how secure this thing is…" But her words were lost as her adoptive brother disappeared. For once she had never been so grateful for her odd gift as she tracked his movements underground. She almost had a heart attack when his signalled disappeared and had to remind herself that he was probably out of her range. The only sign that he was okay was when the board came back for her. Oh no! He's crazy if he thinks I'm trying it out. Sakura told herself. But after a few moments standing on her own, curiosity got the better of her and attempted to follow. Grabbing Tomi by the collar and hugging him closely to her, she used her free arm to pull herself through. Moments later, Naruto was helping her up through the basement.

"Wasn't that cool!" Naruto beamed, sealing the place up again. In response, Sakura hit him hard on the head.


	23. Colds

Tsunade and Sakura didn't talk for over a week and the days continue to add themselves on. It wasn't done purposely; the doctor had been called to a medical conference in the land of lightening. The old woman almost didn't go, still feeling resentment towards the village that the young girl wasn't aware of. But Minato insisted, claiming it would be good diplomacy (not to mention bribing to pay off half her debt) in the end, Tsunade was persuaded to go, as long as she could bring Shizune to torture. Sakura couldn't help but feel a little thankful, knowing she didn't need to deal with her problems instantly. This allowed Sakura to get some personal training with Minato and Naruto as well. It was the only place where Naruto would show off his real skill. There was no doubt that it was only by watching the matches between the two, that the pinkette finally came to realise that she didn't know how talented her best friend was. He had won enough matches in sparring at school to show off that he was not to be messed with. But watching him go at it with his dad was something new completely. She almost felt sad on how much restraint he had to put on himself. Not to mention envy on all the cool nin-jutsu he knew compared to her. But they couldn't use their full potential on each other. Minato always supervised the fights they had to make sure neither of them used dangerous jutsu on each other. Still, it was better than the matches they had at the academy; it felt good not to have Mizuki examining her every move.

But as the summer got closer, tension was beginning to show among some of the students. As usual, at the end of every school year, the pupils of the ninja academy needed to pass exams to allow them to continue further in their training. They weren't meant to be as hard as the final exams, but somehow the word 'test' just seemed to fill everyone with dread and panic.

"Don't worry Choji! You'll be fine!" Ino tried to convince the chubby boy but it seemed to have no effect. No matter how many people tried to convince him, Choji just never seemed to have enough confidence in his abilities. It was a shame; he had so much potential.

"But what if I forget the answers again?" Choji panicked, "I almost didn't pass last year and this year is meant tobegettingharderthis…" As Choji rambled on, Sakura was finding it harder and harder to concrete one what he was saying. She had never witnessed someone talk so fast before. But that wasn't the reason that she was finding it hard to concrete. Just moments ago, Sakura had felt a certain influxuation in the atmosphere. It had only been for a second, but something broke through Sakura's shield, surprising her so much then she nearly tripped over her own footing. Nonetheless, she could not pick it up again, even when she placed all her full concentration into scanning the horizon.

"YO SAKURA!" Naruto voice boomed into her ear, making the poor girl full over in fright. In retaliation, she punched him in the face.

"NARUTO YOU JERK! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?" She screamed, while her foster brother rolled on the floor, clutching his head in agony.

"Jeez Sakura! He was only trying to tell you that it's time for class." Kiba complained, though he made sure he kept a two mile radius to be on the safe side. Slowly taking in what dog boy said, Sakura looked down at the spikey blonde wimping on the floor. Did I really punch him that hard? She wondered. Her questioned was soon answered when she noticed the lump growing on his head. Whoops!

The last class that day was maths (Naruto's worst subject) so most of the class was either messing around, sleeping -Shikamaru anyway- or just staring down at the textbooks in front of them with growing confusion on their face. Even Sakura was having a hard time concreting on the pages in front of her. She had a pounding headache and could feel her throat beginning to swell up.

"Hey Forehead! Are you alright?" Ino whispered from behind. The pinkette still couldn't understand how or when they had begun with the nicknames. It had suddenly just happened after Kiba had insulted both of them (honestly, for a boy living with two feminist you would think he would be more careful) after that they just seemed to stick after that; though only Ino and Sakura were only allowed to use them.

"I'm fine Pig." She tried to reassure, but the croak in her voice didn't help her out that much.

"Maybe you've caught something?" The girl suggested.

"I don't get sick!" Sakura muttered.

As it turned out, Sakura was sick. Medical Ninja's could do many things. They could fix a million shattered bones within a few seconds, remove dangerous poisons and restore broken charka vessels. Yet somehow, a cure for the common cold just seemed to completely confuse the hell out of them. Miserably, the girl ate her toast, its rough surface scratching the back of her throat as it was transported to her stomach. She couldn't eat her favourite cereal because the milk would just increase the mucus and the last thing she wanted to do was spit out more goo. Another reason that Sakura hated this damn virus was that it could not have come at a worser time.

"But I want to go camping too!" She whined, as she helplessly watched Minato help Naruto fold more equipment into his rucksack. However, the tightness of the covers that surrounded her restricted her movement, and her voice had only gotten worse; making her voice barely higher than a whisper. Tomi was able to hear her though, resting his head on her hand, as if to say 'I know you do but you're just too unwell'. It wasn't fair. Sakura had been waiting forever to go on this trip. The only reason they were going on holiday so close to the exams was because the Hokage thought it would be a good idea to get some family time before the babies came, plus he was heading towards the Land of Honey for a political conference anyway and it was apparently perfect camping weather then. However, what annoyed Sakura the most was that they were still going; without her.

"I'm sorry Sakura." Minato apologised, giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Maybe next time?" Despite his effort, the suggestion did little to cheer her up.

Just as the boys had finish stealing nearly most of the food contents, Kushina came in.

"Do you really need all that food?" The red headed whined, her face turning red with annoyance, as she searched the fridge for her afternoon snack. Now that she thought about it, Sakura didn't understand why they didn't wait for the soon to be mother to eat first. Then again… they did have to go shopping twice a day just to keep her fed. Honestly, both she and Naruto could probably eat a whole elephant each and still be happy.

"You don't expect me to take him without a whole week supplies with him around do you." The Hokage defended, pointing at his beloved son (who was already trying to sneak the biscuits out of their hiding places) as if just feeding Naruto was the most important thing.

"Hello!" Kushina, screamed, waving her hands madly in the air, like she was trying to empathises some point that no one was aware of yet. "Cranky, pregnant woman eating for three here." In fairness, she did have a point. Carrying twins had swollen her stomach to twice the size of a normal pregnant woman. It was only because of Kushina's unusual 'Uzumaki' genetics that she was still able to walk around.

"Don't worry hun." Minato smiled, pulling his wife into his arms and kissed her fall on the mouth. Both Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and made gaging expressions. Honestly, why did parents have the need to torture their children?

The poor dog kept looking at the door. Sakura couldn't blame him. The dog hadn't been outside for two days and he was get impatient with boredom. Sakura couldn't blame him for wanting to go on the trip with Naruto but her dog's fierce loyalty to his mistress was stopping him from leaving without her. It was days like this that Sakura was sad that she couldn't bring Tomi to school with her. Compared to Akamaru (who was small enough to hide in Kiba's hood) there was no way they would allow him in school to sit with her.

"It's alright Tomi." Sakura tried to assure the animal, nudging him towards the door. "You can go camping with them if you want to." When the animal looked at her, she could see that his large brown eyes were eager to go. But then reality set in and the animal remembered that he owed his life to his mistress. So with a loud bark, he firmly shook his head and settled himself by the girl's feet. "I love you too boy." Sakura smiled, bending down to hug him.

Minato made sure he didn't leave until the food package came. There was no way he could risk leaving a crazy pregnant without food. But what made Sakura laugh the most was watching Gai Sensei carrying three tons of food crates on his back (apparently, it was keeping busy until his arch rival returned) most of the stuff was devour before the poor shinobi could get the crate off his back. Luckily, there was another ton closing up on the rear.

"I'm here Gai Sensei." The young man beamed; a teenager that looked actually like Gai sensei with his bushy eye brows. Unlike his sensei, the boy was breathing heavily and sweat was dripping down his face.

"Ah! My young protégée! Excellent work!" Gai cheered, giving the boy a thumbs up and his blinding white smile. Lee tried to do the same but could only raise his arm a little. With the rest busy with the other packages (or what was left of them) Sakura went to help Gai's young apprentice.

"Thanks for bringing the crates, it was very… err, nice of you to carry them all the way here." Sakura thanked, securing the strap so it didn't suddenly loosen and allow everything to fall out.

"No probs, anything for a…" Hearing the boy suddenly cut off, Sakura became worried and turned to see if he was okay. What she saw in response was… peculiar? Lee's face had turned an unusual shade of red, with his mouth suddenly unhinged and little hearts pumping out of his eyes. Sakura had never come across this sort of condition in her medical text books before. Instinctively, she placed her hand on his head and sent charka into his head to try and calm down his sudden fever. But it only seemed to make things worse as he fainted. Oh my! Was all Sakura could think as he lay paralysed on the ground.

Having a girl's night in, Sakura and Kushina sat on the couch and watched the romance movie Minato had rented for them to watch. Tomi was taking no interest in the show as he slept by their feet. Leaning into her adoptive mother's shoulder, Sakura enjoyed the film and relaxed as Kushina played with strands of her hair. She didn't feel so sick as before and her mum had made her a special honey tea that tasted delicious. It was actually quite nice to not have to fight over the television remote with the men or to have a fight with Naruto over which weapon is better. For once it was nice just to have a relaxing night in with Kushina. They would have to do this more often, maybe even get Tsunade and Shizune to join in when they came back from the medical conference. Her mother suddenly shifted, making Sakura jump.

"Don't worry sweetie, the babies are just kicking." She smiled and even took the girls hand and pressed it on the spot. Even though she had felt the babies kick before, it never stopped to amaze her that two tiny people was inside there doing that. Settling down again, the women got back into the film but it was interrupted again when the doorbell went off. "That's our ramen." Kushina smiled as she got up to go and open it. Sakura tried to get up and insist she get it instead. But suddenly, Sakura's head began to get all dizzy and it collapsed back on to the pillow. Something was wrong. Her mind was spinning out of control and even though she couldn't make out the difference between a training dummy and her sensei right now, she could still feel the blood tickling out of her nose. Forcing herself to calm down, she allowed her mind to travel to what her instincts were trying to tell her. Cold gripped on to her spine and froze her in place, as her eyes shot open. No! She thought and forcing herself to her feet raced to the hallway.

"Mum! Stop!" She shouted out. The woman turned around to face her but at the same time revealed that she was already too late; the door was open. Everything after that happened so fast. The door burst opened all the way, slamming into Kushina's back and sending her into the wall. She screamed out in pain and slid down the wall, gripping on to her swollen belly. Three men stormed into the building. Their whole bodies were covered with black cloaks, their fluid motions making their move like shadows. Two of the shades grabbed Kushina and disappeared into the air. "Mum!" Sakura screamed again, racing after her but the third man caught her by the hair and slammed her face into the wall.


	24. Takeover

When Sakura woke up, she found herself chained and bleeding badly. The liquid poured so thickly down her forehead that it was blindly; all she could see was red. This is not good! Sakura panicked, trying to wipe the blood from her eyes but with her wrists chained she could not reach the wound. Her head felt like someone had just been hitting her in the head with a hammer a hundred times over. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't use her senses. Where was Kushina? Was she alright? What was going on? The girl felt like she was going crazy with all these questions zooming around in her head with no way to answer them. For the first time in her life, Sakura was paralysed with fear. It was not like she hadn't been afraid of something before. But in all the situations she had been too she had always been able to think and move, creating plans to get her out of bad situations, to have a way to fight back. This was completely different. Her movements were restricted, the burning pain in her head was making it impossible to think and she was losing a lot of blood; too much of it. My head feels heavy! Was all she could think about. Laying her head back down on the floor, she tried to find some comfort from the wooden floorboards. Instead, she heard a terrifying scream that shot Sakura back up.

"Kushina!" Sakura shouted, fighting with her restraints to get to the woman. Kushina! She's alive! Tears soaked her cheeks as she took a small luxury in knowing the woman was still alive. But that comfort soon disappeared when she heard her adoptive mother screaming again. "Kushina! Kushina! MUM!" Her throat felt raw with endless effort. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop. Sakura didn't understand why she was doing it but she was doing it. The distance calls began to sound like her name but the young girl could not make them out as she continued to yell. Suddenly, the door flew open and a man stepped in. It was one of the masked men, his dark cloak fluid like liquid as he came strolling towards her. The banging sounds from his heavy footsteps made Sakura flinch every time. Even though she couldn't see him well with blood dripping in front of her eyes, her nose caught a strange smell from the man's clothing. It smelled like… fish? Sakura could not think further on the subject when something kicked her in the stomach.

"Shut up brat." The masked man hissed, kicking her in the stomach again. She hit the floor hard screeching in pain. The man left, slamming the door shut behind her. This was not supposed to happen! Anger swelled inside her, her fist trembling with rage. He promised! He said he would never let anything happen! Never had Sakura wanted to curse and stomp so much in her life, yet she was too powerless to move. All she could was lay there, feeling the darkness overcome her mind, her eye lids too heavy to keep open. Someone! Anyone! Save us! Sakura wanted to scream but the words failed to come out.

The second time she woke up the wound had stopped bleeding. Her body's natural system had kicked in and sealed the flesh wound in her head. She felt hot and sweaty but she could still feel her own blood sticking to her own skin. It took her a while to take in her natural settings. What? Shocked, she took a second look to make sure she wasn't imagining anything. She was in her room. Hope started to settle in as she began to believe that maybe everything had been a nightmare, that she had just fallen out of bed and hit her head on something. But all of it ended when she took a step forward and pain shot in her stomach. Memories of the strange man kicking her in the stomach came back. But if it was all true, what was doing in her room? Instinctively, she hand reached for stomach. It was only then that she realised that she was wearing any chains anymore. She took a moment to examine her wrists. They felt stiff but more or less fine. At least not everything was bad.

A commotion from the outside startled her. If she hadn't cover her mouth in time she was sure they would have heard her scream. Instead, Sakura pretended to play dead. The door slammed against the wall, making the floor vibrate. Heavy footsteps echoed around the room.

"Kid's still asleep, we can talk in here for a while." One of the men grunted, closing the door behind him.

"Keep it down." Hushed the other stranger. Even with her eyes closed, Sakura could just picture him dancing around all jittery, nervous vibes swam off his body in landslides.

"Geez you really are a wimp." The other guy grunted. If anyone had called someone a wimp around here they would have got their ass wiped.

"How can you be so calm?" The younger stranger exclaimed, completely ignoring his earlier comment. "The man's gone mad… punching the woman in the stomach and then kicking that poor kid." Obviously this guy was a rookie of some kind or some office jonin that's promoted way above his years for some reasons. But then again he was defending me and Kushina, so I couldn't really hate him that much. "The damage he's done to that woman will make it harder to deliver the babies and if they die, who knows what will happen…" For some reason the guy cuts off, but Sakura couldn't understand why. At first she thought about using her ability but decide it against it, she wanted to be entirely focus on the situation, if she went into day dream world and then got startled by something, she would give away that she was awake.

"Listen you little brat." The other shinobi hissed, the poison of his words felt like they were dripping on her own skin. "You just worry about those babies, we'll worry about the rest."

Sakura was pissed off when they didn't reveal any more of their plans; but it at least it gave her some alone time. Using the time efficiently, she examined her bed room. While she had been out they had board the windows so she couldn't see outside. In addition they had stripped her room, looking for what she wasn't sure about, maybe any listen devices the Hokage might have put in the room. None of her toys had made it out alive, most of their heads ripped off or pieces of plastic scattered around the room. But the worse was finding her doll… her beautiful china doll that Jiraiya had gotten on his last trip had its face smashed in. They had confiscated her weapons as well. Even the fake ones that she and Naruto used as toys when they played ninja together. For the rest of her day, she divided her time between pulling the wood of the window to sitting down and thinking of a plan. Splinters were embedded into her fingers, growing raw from the endless scraping of the wood. The pain in her head was unbearable but she dare not risk exposure and left the wound as it was, at least she had checked to make sure she had no infection from it. But overall she spent all her time listening. She hoped that someone would come along and at least check on them but so far no one had made the effort. Somehow she needed to get a message out and fast.

What frighten her the most was hearing about Kushina's condition. As soon as the two intruders had left, she immediately checked on her adoptive mother's condition. It was not good. The medic had the woman under sedation but had done a minimal to heal the cut inside the womb. Thankfully, it was small, so she had some time. But the longer that wound was left unattended risked death to both the babies and the mother. As soon as those babies got proper medical help the twins would have to be born early, the faster she got them out, the less risk of damage they would gain.

But so far she was having no luck. Plans flew in and out of her mind faster than a speeding bullet. The only thing she could register so far was that there were defiantly three guys. One was the young medic, poorly guarding the top stairs as she jump at every sound the floors made. Another, who had kindly given her the bruised body, was patrolling the lower levels of the house. The third one, was walking around the outside, placing stuff on the ground that Sakura wasn't sure of. They had done a decent job securing the place, even stripped the wooden furniture in to boards across the windows but had been careful to draw the curtains in front of them, so no one passing by could really see what was happening. Maybe the medic wasn't much of a shinobi but the other two were defiantly something to worry about. She wished she could see Kushina at least; just for a couple of seconds.

It wasn't until late afternoon that someone had finally come to visit the house. They were dead within seconds. Sakura wasn't even sure who they were or what even happened. However it was shouldn't of been on the mansion grounds anyway as they came sneaking in around the bushes. The third ninja patrolling the grounds hadn't even bothered to attack the man, as he vanished into the bushes. She watched intensely through the small crack she had made between the boards. Nothing was happening, as the man dived from bush to bush, performing a poor attempt at being stealthy. Frustration burned through Sakura's body. What are you doing? She wanted to screamed but maintain her composer, as she continued to watch. At first she thought they might be waiting for him to sneak into the house so they could tackle him quietly in the house. But then he stepped between to stop the signs the hidden shinobi had placed on the ground. The black ink glowed a dark red, as they sent the man's body on fire. Sakura could only watch as the inferno consumed him, not even leaving ashes of his presence.

Seeing the man burn to death had turned Sakura's body stone cold. Nothing she could think have seemed to help her out of this mess, every plan she was even considering disappeared along with the flames. If no one could reach the house to save them, how were they going to be saved?

A day must have passed before Sakura woke up again. The pounding in her head was less but now her hands had begun to protest as the splinters in her hand grew angrier. With no other plans to have formulated over the night, Sakura spent her time picking the wood from her hands. If she had to use her hands at some point, she didn't want them beyond repair. The only light in her room came from the tiny crack. Crawling over to the window, she peeped through the barriers to get a better look outside. It must be early morning at least. Right now she should have been getting up for the academy; if she was feeling any better that is. Kushina would be wobbling around down stairs, worrying about containing the sizzling food cooking on the stove. But nothing like that was happening right now. Both of them were trapped within the mansion, so close and yet so far apart. Not being able to comfort each other in this time of crisis. What was worse was that nobody was here to save them. Minato and Naruto were still on their way to the Land of Honey, Jiraiya was Kami knows where (probably peering on naked ladies) Tsunade and Shizune were at that stupid medical conference still and Kakashi was walking through the gates of the mansion. Kakashi walking through the gates… Startled, Sakura's eyes zoomed back to the spot her eyes had drifted across seconds before. There he was. Consisting of his lazy posture, as he dragged his feet across the ground, his stupid book covering his face. For some reason the dogs stood by the gate (resting by the looks of it) joy overcame her as she saw the copy-nin approach the house. But her happiness was soon shredded to pieces when yesterday's horror crept back up on her.

"Kakashi!" Sakura screeched, banging her fist hard against the walls. But not matter how much she screamed his name, he did not seemed to be able to hear her. Each lazy step he took was closer and closer to the barrier. There was no use. Despite her brothers' superior hearing, her weak voice could not travel the great across the mansions garden. She hadn't realised how dry her throat was, when was the last time she had a drink? Far away from the gates, she felt something stirring among the front gate and saw Kakashi's group of nin-dogs alert, catching something in the air but unable to identify what it was. "PAKKUN! STOP HIM!" She cried with all her might, only just noticing the dog's head looked up in her direction as Kakashi's foot was one step away from the line.

Her list of injuries just seemed to be growing every second. A broken nose had just been added to the list. Honestly, she was surprised it had last this long without getting broken, considering what kind of training she did nearly every day. She found herself in worse circumstances before as well, they had moved her down to the basement. Any escape plan she had now was irrelevant. At least she was glad to discover that the little tunnel had not been discovered, they had hidden it well among the other contents of the room. But she couldn't escape yet. There was still Kushina to think about and she was trapped upstairs. Not to mention she didn't know if Kakashi was alive. One of the bastards had dragged her away from the window before she could see what had happened. At least she would like to think that she didn't hear any horrific screams of a burnt victim; that was always a good sign.

A scream echoed somewhere in the house. Leaping to her feet, Sakura senses became fully alert. There was her mother, screaming and kicking furiously against her chains. Oh Kami! Sakura ability to breathe suddenly disappeared when she senses honed in on the other people with her. Those monsters! Sakura wanted to scream but couldn't find the words to let out her frustration. Sprinting towards the door, she used all the force she could muster to break the door down. All it seemed to do was add to her list of injuries as she dislocated her shoulder. Painfully pushing the bone back into place. How could they? They were torturing a pregnant woman! Her own mother! Screaming in frustration, she threw her fist at the door, hoping that her inhuman strength could help her out for once. Instead, the door opened all together. Throwing all her weight into the punch hadn't been the best idea as she went tumbling through the door. Someone grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and threw her over their shoulder. She would have screamed in protest if someone else hadn't gagged her mouth. Fighting the bounds furiously, Tsunade would have scowled her for the language she was using; if anyone could actually understand anything she was saying.

Seeing the sun again almost burned her eye sockets. It was the first time she had been outside since… How long had it been? Slowly, the blurred colours began to take shape and she found all of the Konohagakure shinobi force standing on the front lawn. Standing right in the middle of the threaten force was the Hokage himself. She thought when she saw him, he would look angry, scared or something. But the man's face was completely blank. He was holding a big scroll. Sakura did not like the look of this.

"Great Hokage, it's so nice to see you again." The man mocked but still Minato's face did not flinch. As the two men walked closer to the front line, she was able to study everyone's faces better. Her heart somersaulted when she saw Kakashi a step behind on the left with Jiraiya on the right. There was no sign of Tsunade anywhere. Sakura only notice that they stopped just before they cross the barrier line.

"The scroll as promised." Minato spoke; everything in his posture was calm. Sakura wished she could be a little more like that.

"You think we're going to trade just like that." The man laughed, dragging something from his belt. Sakura eyed it suspiciously, watching the black rod dangle from his hands. Without warning, the man connected the rod to her with her skin. Electricity shot through her body, sending all her muscles into a spasm. She would have screamed in pain if she wasn't in so much shock. Even when it had stopped her limbs continued to twitch. If the man hadn't been holding her up she would be rolling around on the ground. Even then Minato's facial muscles didn't move but Jiraiya looked like he might tear the shinobi's eyes out. Another scream followed somewhere in the distance, stopping Sakura's heartbeat.

"Kushina!" Sakura screamed but the sound was muffled. She could feel everyone's death glare on the bastard holding her but still Minato's face remained neutral. For some reason her anger was suddenly directed at her adoptive father. Why was he acting like this? Didn't here care what was happening? His wife was being tortured for Kami sake.

"You see Hokage…" The man trailed on, finally getting around to the spot. "I want you to open it up… just to make it's the real thing or else." Grinning, the man tapped the electric rode against Sakura's skin again, making her body jerk even more. Slowly, Minato began peeling the paper away. All of this for a stupid scroll? Sakura wanted to scream in frustration but her tongue felt too rough to make any sound. It didn't make any sense, if you had the Hokage's family lock up then you would trade for something better or trading a member off one by one to… That's when it hit her. She was being traded for a scroll.

No! He can't be serious, if he took her, it meant more danger to her mum and the babies, no one was going to be there to help them. At the moment she was Kushina's only ally on this side of the barrier. If they traded her over they had one less connection. She needed to stop this. Drifting her gaze down, she watched the man's hand swaying back and forth in front of her face. Restlessly, she began fiddling with the cloth around her mouth, loosing the material slowly.

"Very good." The man congratulated, finishing the examination of the scroll from where he stood. "Now if you just… Aaarrgghhh!" The man cried out, more from surprise then pain, as Sakura's teeth sunk deeply into his flesh. The sense of bitterness filled her mouth as a flow of metallic liquid cover her tongue. He smashed his fist in her face but Sakura refused to let do, in fact it gave her more determination to cling on more. "Forget the scroll, killing this little brat will be much more satifing." The man spat, his dark eyes wide and bloody.

"What are you doing?" His team member hissed, obviously against the idea. The man didn't answer as he dragged Sakura along the ground. Twisting back, she could see the whole Konohagakure army staring right back at her in shock. All she could do was give them a wink, as if to say that this was all planned, that she had a plan. Now if she only had a plan.


	25. Plans for Escape

**Sorry for taking so long to update guys. I hope you enjoy. **

A plan. One single, stupid, simple plan to get everyone out of this mess was all she needed. Even part of a plan would of been welcome right then to get everything in motion. But there was nothing. Sakura's mind was drawing a complete blank, furiously pacing around the room, as if she was hoping that the additional blood pumping in her body might help her. Her lip was numb from nearly being chewed off and the throbbing in her head had not subsided. She refused to heal herself, knowing that she was now dangerously low on charka supplies, unless she had something to replenish her dwindling energy.

Suddenly, the room filled with light and Sakura jumped back to her corner, sinking in to it, hoping if she pushed herself hard enough against the wall she might slip through it. To her relief it was the medic that had come to see her. He was doing his best to be silent but the rattling of the tray was kind of giving away his presence.

"There you go." The man attempted to smile, placing the plate a slight distance away from her. If Sakura hadn't been watching him she would have never seen him slip it into the shadows, completely out of view. It was then she noticed the guy wasn't a man, in fact he had hardly hit puberty. If Sakura had guessed correctly then he must have been around thirteen at least. In all fairness he was surprisingly tall for his age. This made her even more worried than before about who was looking after her mother. No one that young would have high experience on medical jutsu (herself being the acceptation) why had the men brought someone so inexperience? Just as the boy was creeping back upstairs, his path was suddenly blocked by a looming shadow.

"What are you doing?" The man demanded. Sakura thanked Kami that her corner was hidden in the darkest area, with the food the man had got for her hiding in the shadows.

"Just thought I heard something so I came to check it out." The boy answered. His voice didn't present a hint of nervousness compared to the other times they had spoken to each other. The transformation defiantly sent Sakura's head on a crazy spin. The other ninja just stared at him. He face was totally blank. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Get back upstairs solider." He hissed. The boy didn't argue as he bounced up stairs taking two steps at a time.

It wasn't until they had both left that Sakura risked eating the food. She didn't even take a second to test whether any drugs had been added to the continents. The bread was stale and the soup a little thin but Sakura believed it was like a feast made for a king. Now that she had something to eat she needed to start planning again, hoping that the food would give herself some more brain power to think. But still she came up empty. Panic began to swell up in her chest as her mind thought only of Kushina and the twins upstairs. Calm down Sakura! She told herself firmly. There was no point panicking. She needed to take it step by step. First things first, what did she have that could help her?

Charka was out of the question. She had very little left as she felt it drifting away from the lack of proper nutrients and sleep. Weapons were out of the question as well. The men had cleared the basement of all the obvious dangers. Left over knives, shrunkens and broken needles had been confiscate. But no one had removed the stored paper. Paper! She snapped her head back to make sure she wasn't having delusions. But there they were. It was all Sakura needed. Sadly, her new found happiness disappeared when she realised she was missing a second key ingredient. Ink. If her throat had been dredged out she would have screamed her head off. Instead she punched the wall so hard that her skin shattered on impact. She could only stand there and watch as the red liquid dripped from her hand. Watching the blood drip on the cream parchments was almost memorising. Slowly, she leaned over the paper and dragged her finger across its smooth surface. She practiced a few drawings first to make sure she could do it properly. Finally satisfied, she stood up to admire her work from afar. Now she had a plan.

It was difficult climbing through the vents of the house. Every time she moved through the system it made a thunderous sound that forced her to freeze in fear that someone might have heard her. The journey seem to last twice as long as Sakura had anticipated but if the directions in her mind were right, then she could be just below the main bedroom. It took her a while but she was able to remove the metal sheet above her (using just a spoon wasn't the best tool to use) and popped the floor boards to the side.

Her nightmare had come to life. When she pulled herself through the floor she believed she was in the wrong room. Everything around her was shattered and the furniture was covered in blood, puke and other things she dare not mention. The wimping from the bed dragged her attention away from the destruction. She had almost missed the bulk in the bed with the room so dark. Slowly, she crawled towards the bed, the environment sent a paralysing fear through the young girl that made it impossible to walk. The fear that gripped almost drained all the strength from her but she was stubborn enough to keep on fighting.

She found the blankets drenched in blood. Kushina was unconscious, her skin drench with sweat and her lips were turning blue. Sakura didn't have time to worry about her surroundings. The fear of her adoptive mother dying was more important than the hygiene issues at the moment. She checked the stomach first. Thankfully, the babies vital signs were fine. The problem was the torn flesh inside the stomach. Not waiting another second, Sakura began healing the wound. Knitting the flesh together was easy. It was getting the organs to function properly again. The process was slow, due to the amount of blood loss and nothing to replenish it. But relief flooded her whole body when the pink in her lips began to return and the shallow breathes began to ease. When the tissue was finally fix, the woman's eye fluttered open.

"Kushina!" Sakura cried out, hugging the woman so tightly, that it felt like she was never going to let go.

"Sakura." The mother whispered, crying with joy that the girl was fine. It was only when the women squealed again that Sakura sensed her job wasn't finished yet.

It was nothing like the text books. She could now understand Naruto's reaction when she told him how babies were born. The crowning process was not the prettiest sight to see. Whether they wanted it or not, this baby was already coming out. The girl had to make sure they were not disrupted. Blocking the door with anything every enough, then slapping seal on the door. Racing back to the woman, she tried to make the area presentable as possible.

"Kushina! The baby's coming!" Sakura called out, almost forgetting someone could hear her. "You've got to take a deep breath and push." She ordered, trying to hide the dread in her voice. It was a hard command to follow, especially in the condition the mother was in. But Kushina was an Uzumaki and they were known for their extreme pain fresh hold. The woman screamed with effort as she did the first push, popping the first head out, then the shoulders, then the rest. The child's scream filled the room. "It's a boy." The girl cried happily, finding it hard to believe she was holding something so small and yet so loud. Even covered in blood and fluid, Kushina looked at the little boy like he was the most beautiful thing in the world. But the moment was soon interrupted when another pain stabbed the woman's abdomen. Sakura was forced to work one handed as she attempted to deliver the second one. "It's a girl." Sakura whispered in disbelief. She had nothing to cut the umbilical cord, so when she passed the children on to their mother, they were still attached.

"Hi." Kushina breathed, finding it hard to stay awake. She was exhausted from all the work. Plus, she had lost way too much blood. Sakura had to act fast.

"Promise me right now Kushina!" Sakura shouted at her forcefully, grabbing the woman's face between her hands and forcing the woman to look into her eyes. "You don't under any circumstances let go of those babies, even if Kami tried to rip them from your arms you do not let go. Promise me right now!" Sakura couldn't help but shake her mother slightly, worried that all the energy had been zapped from her body. Despite the sweat dripping down her face and her clammy skin growing whiter, Kushina still seemed to be able to hang on to all of Sakura's words.

"I promise." Kushina croaked, following the orders and hugging the twins tighter to her chest. A brief sigh of relief escaped the young girl's lips. Leaning forward, she kissed the woman on the head, slapping the sign on the woman's back as she did. If Kushina knew what she was planning, she would probably go berserk.

"I love you." Sakura whispered, forcing the tears away from her eyes as she crept back under the floor boards and back into her room. Sitting down as comfortably as she could, she began focusing her charka. It was time to get to work.

First she needed to create a scene. That wasn't going to be hard. She was a ten year old, who had suffered many traumatic experiences and had an explosive temper to match it all up. Throwing a riot should be second nature.

"I HATE YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" Sakura screamed, grabbing the closets things she could get her hands on and threw them as hard as she could at the walls. As expected, Mister Cranky Pants came stomping into the room. It didn't really help that the last thing she threw hit him in the face. His piercing black eyes ripped her flesh apart, the hatred fuelling them was enough to make her skin peel. He dived in low, slamming his fist into the centre of her stomach where her belly button would be.

"Shut up Brat!" The attacker spat back, continuously beating her. The medic and the other team member ran in seconds later.

"Stop." He yelled, tackling his team mate on the ground, while Sakura's body slumped on the ground. With the crazed ninja restrained, the medic found it safe to examine the girl's body. His hands glow green as they went to her stomach but snapped back a second later.

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" The medic's eyes grew wide as he stumbled back from the little form, bashing his back into the wall. "Oh Kami! She's dead. We've just killed the Hokage's daughter!"

Stage one was complete, Sakura wondered to herself, glad that her body was settled into a paralysed state.

She wasn't so glad when she was delivered to the people outside. The medic was the only one that had the courage to deliver her outside. Sakura wasn't even sure she had passed the barrier until she felt her weight shift into different arms. Words were exchanged but none of them seemed to make sense to her. In the state she was in, she couldn't use her ability to sense who was who and what was going on. All she had to rely on was her sense of smell, touch and hearing. Whoever was holding her now had a firm grip of her body. Gently, she was place down on a flat surface; possibly a table.

"Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke." Kakashi's voice pleaded from somewhere. She felt guilt hit her hard in the stomach when she felt the pain in his voice. The material that covered her face was softly removed from her face. The whole room went silent. Sakura wished she could reach out to them somehow, let them know she was okay. But the paralysing system she had set into motion had not finished yet. Her body was complete stone.

"I'm going to kill them." Tsunade growled the fury the woman's charka release made everyone in the room want to suddenly hide. "No, I'm going to slowly cut them apart and make them watch as I drag their insides out. Then I kill them!" If the whole room wasn't afraid before, then they certainly were now.

"Calm down Tsunade." Jiraiya spoke calmly but this only seemed to intense the woman's rage.

"Screw you." She barked, making the other sannin back off instantly. "Minato! Say something!" Until that moment, Sakura hadn't realised the man was nearby. But she defiantly knew he was there when he began stroking his hair. It was the same movement she was use to when both she and Naruto would listen to one of his stories. The strokes had been small and gentle; she would have recognised them anywhere.

"Minato… we've got too…"

"Don't tell me what to do." Minato's voice was barely audible but the tone was enough to cut through flesh and bone. She so badly wanted to hug the man right now. But she couldn't, not now. The sensation was beginning to wear off.

"Oi! Hokage!" Sakura knew that was Mr Cranky Pants voice. She felt everyone leave the room, she was sure all of them wanted to get their hands around his throat and strangle him. It was perfect for Sakura to be left on her own; she didn't want anyone dying of fright. "Our sincere apologies for the little one but the women in this family have got to learn to keep their mouths shut." Was the ninja's response to her death; what a nice guy. Was this guy just asking to have his insides torn out? She could do nothing expect wait for the charka to start running through her system properly again. Furious discussions continued as her body began regaining full control again.

"It doesn't have to end this way." Minato's voice called out, making the girl pay attention.

"Not till the fat lady stops screaming!" The man laughed, the noise getting quieter. He was heading back to the house. The technique wore off just in time.

"Transport!" She shouted, slapping her hands together to perform the seal she need. Smoke filled the room, alerting some people outside the tent. They all went running in, dispersing the grey smoke as they went. They were shocked to find the dead body gone and a confused looking woman holding two babies instead.

Well that did it. That teleportation technique had totally drained her of all her charka. She could feel exhaustion rip through her body, her lungs working overtime to keep breathing. When the door burst open, she only had enough strength to push herself off the bed. Sent herself rolling towards the hole, before flames engulfed the entire room. Even when the fire burnt the back of her legs, the girl had no energy to cry out. Her whole determination was based on dragging herself through the vents again. It was easier getting down to the basement then getting up to the bedrooms. Gravity helped a lot by allowing her to fall two storeys down. Again she was lucky, twisting her body so that her shoulder took the impact instead of her neck. But it made the journey more difficult as she was sure that every bone in her left side had shattered to pieces. Dragging herself the rest of the way felt like she was carrying four tons of boulders on her back.

Hitting the ground floor of the basement was less painful than expected. It was nice to just lay there and absorb the coolness from the floor. Slipping her one good hand into the pocket, she pulled out the slip of paper and looked at it. The last one. She smiled to herself; though it hurt to do so. Before, she did anything she calmed herself, getting as much rest as she could. It took forever for a little bit of her charka to return but it was enough to finish of the final seal. Just in time as well, as she heard footsteps echo through the room. Slipping herself through the hidden trap door, she slapped the seal on the ground. The last thing she saw, was the men bursting through the door and thee seal glow red. Burn in hell you bastards! She cursed, slamming the door above her.

KABOOM!


	26. Fire

Hey everyone,

Sorry that it's been so long since I last update but working two jobs and exams doesn't leave you with much time to do your own thing. But hopefully I'll be updating this story more regularly again. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far.

Love Hannah

Move! Every muscle screamed in protest at the thought but Sakura forced them to do as they were told. Like a mole her fingers clawed through the dirt, pulling herself along the earth, attempting to dig herself out. But she wasn't moving fast enough. Smoke circled around her, overwhelming all her senses and the more she the dug the more buried she became. Suddenly, the ground began shaking all around her. Panicking, Sakura clung to the earth, in an attempt to steady herself. She could feel the sprinkle of soil dripping over her body. It took a while for Sakura to realise that it wasn't the earth shaking anymore but her body. Stay calm Sakura, trying to sooth the demons of panic within her. Closing her eyes, she tried to steady herself, taking a deep breath to relax her. It was a big mistake. As soon as she opened her mouth, the poison seeped into her lungs. Though all the chaos, she had forgotten about the carbon monoxide floating around in the air. Terror burned through her as the smoke began eating the fuel inside her body.

The flames licked the heels of his shoes as he race through the blaze. All around him screams could be heard as everyone raced to maintain order. He could feel the heat engulfing his body. The fabric of his uniform disappeared as he pushed himself further into the flames. Despite the pain, he could barely feel it. All of his attention was focused on one task. Finding Sakura. The blast must have happened in the basement for such an explosion to destroy the house, Kakashi thought, trying to stay calm as he let his mind work.

BANG! Flames flew high, blocking Kakashi's path. Out of instinct, he raised his arms across his face. He could feel the flames attacking his skin.

He found her face down in the dirt. Oh Kami no! Kakashi panicked. Another explosion threw fire at him. The ninja yelled in agony as the flames peeled the flesh from his back. Regaining his senses, Kakashi pulled Sakura from the dirt. Despite the danger all around him the copy ninja had to take a few moments to calm himself down. But her body was limp and her skin so white that he couldn't help fearing the worse. Forcing his emotions away, he made himself check for a pulse. His heart stopped. There was no life.

Another explosion erupted behind him. This time using his body to shield the small creature he held. Through all the chaos her body remained limp. Lying her out on the ground, he back breathing air into her body, pressing down on her chest as he attempted to reanimate her body. Past thoughts began to drain is mind of hope, as past missions reminded how many times he had tried this on fellow comrades. But he kept going because he knew Sakura was different. It could have been the smoke finally getting to his brain but something inside his head was telling him not to stop.

"Come back Sakura!" he shouted, in rage slamming his palm harder than any paramedic would suggest. Nevertheless, it worked.

Sakura whole body awoke, throwing her body into multiple spasms. Something held on to her tight, restricting her body's movements.

"Ssshhh! It's okay." A soothing voice steadied her thoughts. It was Kakashi. She wanted to jump up and kiss the man but she had no energy left.

Minato was doing his best to keep everything under control. He had every water jutsu specialist, the toads and the firemen working together to tackle the flames. The rest of the shinobi he ordered to create a barrier circling what was once his home. He didn't want any surviving Grass ninja to escape within all the chaos. Right beside him was Hiashi, using his eyes to follow his student's process. Right now he had to assume there was nothing to worry about. A red and white flash appeared out of the corner of his eye.

"Minato! We got to get more water. The broken fire seals within the house are causing more damage." Understanding Jiraiya problem, Minato called for any second water type users to come forward and help with the fire efforts. "Any sign…" Jiraiya stopped when the Hokage shook his head. With great reluctance, the Toad sage returned to the fire efforts, making the toads work ten times harder.

"Hokage!" The head Hyuga called up to his leader. "On the right. Heading straight towards us!" Following the shinobi's directions, Minato stare into the very heart of the fire. At first he saw nothing but flashes of orange flashing in front of him. But soon, he could begin to make out a dark figure wrestling through the fire. All at once, Kakashi leaped through the flames, with most of his clothes gone (but somehow his mask remained untouched) and his bare flesh was raw. But he ran like he felt no pain from the black marks eating away at his flesh. Instead, he eyes were completely focused on what he held in him arms. It was Sakura. Before he even uttered a word, Shizune dived past him, her hands glowing green.

"Take her! Take her!" He heard Kakashi cry desperately. Gently, he watched the young medic take the girl and lay her out on the floor. The woman shouted for another medic, this one following with some kind of machine. Together they took one of the masks attach to the machine and carefully placed it around Sakuras mouth. The Fourth had to use all of his will to remain at his command post. Yet every now and again, his blue eyes rested back on his young daughter. The problem was from where he stood he could not see any difference in the girls condition, her whole body was covered in soot. Kakashi was dismissing any attempts to have himself checked out but the other medic. Typical Kakashi. All Minato could do was stand and wait.

Slowly, Sakura body began to replace the black poison within her body with pure oxygen. Steadily, she could feel everything begin to clear and little by little she could feel a little of her strength beginning to return.

The Hokage sat in the waiting room patiently, trying to take him the quietness. It had taken four hours to put out the fire and then another hour to wait for the heat to calm. There was nothing left of the house. Apart from the basement which was more like a big hole now. The forensics team was probably still digging through the rumble, still gathering what remained of charred body parts. But at the moment he found himself more anxious about the news of his family. One door held Kakashi, who had eventually been knocked out by Gai so he could be treated by the paramedics. Then there was Kushina, still recovering from the stress of child birth and her internal injuries. Minato could not bless the Kami enough for the gifts of the Uzumaki clan. Without their legendary stamina, his wife would of never of made it. Finally, there was Sakura, also resting up. Of course security was tight but Minato wouldn't let them close to the rooms. He needed space. The only people around were close family. Beside him sat Naruto, who was twitching impatiently and on the other Jiraiya, who was attempting to sleep. But with the two bundles of energy were making a fuss every five seconds it was impossible to not to worry over their needs and everyone else's.

"Maybe they're hungry?" Naruto suggested, peeping over the crib in front of them to check on his new siblings. Despite being small for their age, both babies were healthy, pink plumps with their mother's fiery colouring. Both of them were certainly as loud as their mother. "Maybe we should give them ramen!" The exaggerated statement made everyone laugh (apart from Naruto who just looked confused) it was good to have some of the tension eased, even if it was just a little bit.

Just then, Tsunade came out of Kakashi's room, ticking off whatever was on her clip board. Doctors, they never go anywhere without a clipboard. Instinctively, Minato sat up a little straighter.

"He'll be back to normal in no time." The doctor smiled, though the stretched lips demonstrated how exhaustion can make the simplest tasks harder to manage. Regardless of the fact that Minato already knew this, it was reassuring to hear it, to calm his nerves. It had been a rough couple of days for everyone. However, no matter what life throws at you the earth still seemed to keep spinning, you had to find a way to keep up with it. Before Tsunade could rest though, she still had one more patient to visit.

"What about the babies Grandma?" Naruto asked, with both the twins crying out in protest.

"You're doing a great job with them Naruto." The old woman reassured, making Naruto's big smile beam bright. Her grandson had a way of making everything seem a little better. While admiring her grandsons special ability, she did not notice that instead of touching the door, she was about to lean on air.

The sound of mumbling and baby wails dragged Sakura from her bed. She had only woken up and wanted to know what was going on. But she opened the door, she found a palm smacking into her face.


End file.
